


Mia Winters

by GewenG



Category: Biohazard | Resident Evil (Gameverse), Resident Evil - All Media Types
Genre: Backstory, Confessions, Drama, F/M, Guilt, Headcanon, Hurt/Comfort, Interrogation, Lies, Love, Marriage, Married Couple, Mithan, Post-Resident Evil 7, Secret Identity, Starting Over
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-22
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:54:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 25,928
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25785463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GewenG/pseuds/GewenG
Summary: Takes place after Resident Evil 7. Please play the game first.Right after the Baker's incident. Ethan and Mia survives and finally rescued. The story didn't end there for both of them however. Now that he experienced everything, its about time he confront Mia on who she really is
Relationships: Ethan Winters/Mia Winters
Comments: 10
Kudos: 15





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is literally my very first time writing a fanfiction. I am not a writer by a long shot. This work is simply me wanting to let out what i felt towards the tragic couple of the game for some unknown reason because these 2 are just so underrated and needs more love. The trailer of the upcoming Resident Evil 8 doesn't help either. T_T

Ethan stares at the woman who he called the love of his life as she sleeps somewhat peacefully after the nightmare they both just endured. It felt surreal, but holding her hand with his own strengthen the fact they actually survived. This is her right in front of him. Not the other _her_ but the real her. The warmth in her hand and seeing her chest moving up and down as she breathe justifies it even more. 

"Leave me".  
"I don't want to hurt you".  
"Forget about me".

Just a few hours ago, seeing the memories of her crying those words really struck him deep. He can feel and see for himself that she's trying her hardest to resist Eveline, a bio organic weapon (B.O.W) that is controlling her and force her to attack him mercilessly, resulting on his left hand being dismembered. Excruciating is not enough to describe the pain he's having at the time. Luckily, his hand has been reattached back together by Zoe, another survivor at the Baker's. Her whereabout is unknown after they left her on the attempt to escape but that would be another story for later. Right now, in his mind is just of his wife.

To finally found his wife that he presumed dead this whole time only to find out she turned into an abomination that straight up tries to kill him, is the most horrid thing unimaginable. He hesitates at first not wanting to hurt her but there's just so much one can take. It doesn't help that she looks nothing like she used to. Fighting for his life, he slashed her with an axe. Shoot her in the face with a gun not once or twice but dozens. To make things even worse, she just does not go down. She kept on getting up and attack him again and again each time. It would have been easier if she remained turned the whole time but it does not turn out that way. In between their fight, she, at times turned back to her normal self in between. Its painful because he knew, her real self is in there the whole time. He knew, she too was hurting every time they clashed.

He would never hurt her. Its one of the vow he made at the altar when he chose to marry her. He loved her with all fiber of his being. He never hit her once and barely even raise his voice even when they argued. He wished this is just a nightmare, a bad dream but this is reality. It is as real as it gets. If he did not do what he did, he would not be here right now and she will remain as the monster that slumbers within that hell. Thank god, she actually went down in the end.

However, there is something that he is assured right now. There is no doubt that her love for him is genuine. He almost die or worse turned into a monster like her if it were not for her sacrificing herself. He came for her yet she is the one who save his life. He is grateful that she does not cheat on him and has been loyal all this time. At least for a normal love relationship. But after these events, he also learn that there are more than meets the eyes. In fact, when he thinks about it, he actually does not really know her as he thought he knew. She has always been secretive in what she does. He has been watching her even before she went missing. He knew something was off but he kept quiet about it, wanting to trust her. Last night, his hunch came true as she confessed that she lied to him but she never got around to actually tell him everything and at the time when they did she said she could not remember. Its really frustrates him to no end. One thing for sure, Mia, is deeply connected to what happened last night and she could have been the reason all of this happen in the first place.

For now, he is just glad they both made it out together. There are a lot of things he wanted to ask her but after the whole ordeal, that can wait. 

"Who are you really, Mia?" Ethan whispers to himself. Despite what he said, he can't help to feel relief seeing her serene face as she just slept like nothing happen.

He then, carefully rest her hands on her abdomen and sit back, close his eyes and try to relax. The helicopter seats aren't the best in the world but he swears at this point in time, its the best seat he ever had. "I'll make sure to get to the bottom of this". He thought to himself before completely fell asleep.

  
.

.

.

The moment they reached the Blue Umbrella operation base, they were sent straight for treatment. They took all kind of samples from blood to urine to tests he doesn't even aware existed. He truly felt like a guinea pig at times but he cannot really complain. After all, Ethan is a system engineer not a medical officer. Leave these things to the professional. Anyhow, his left hand finally get its proper fix but sadly the scar will never went away. Its permanent. Great, a constant reminder of hell which he can never forget.

Things has been at peace now. He does not have to go to work as he will be staying here for awhile. The Blue Umbrella really know how to do their job including covering this mess with something normal and made it look like an accident. Now he just relax here like having a vacation. The view is actually quite nice and he was allowed to take a walk within the facility as long as its not the restricted area. From what he read back in the salt mine, he was in the middle stage of the infection as he starts seeing hallucinations which explains why he saw Eveline and Mia flashbacks. Hence, the treatment he underwent does not take too long and was not so complicated as Mia's.

Speaking of Mia, Ethan does not really able to see her all this while. Unlike him, Mia's whole body have been deeply infected throughout her whole system. It is pretty obvious, she has been there for three years after all. The doctor said, Mia is lucky that Eveline chose her as 'mommy' in which Eveline made sure she does not mutate like Jack was. Thank god for that. If Mia turned into one of those mold or worse, a giant blob with multiple eyes, Ethan would have lost it then and there. Now that everything is over, he actually chuckled a little thinking about how would Mia giant blob form would look like. Would have been a fun conversation to talk with her IF and a very big IF she is properly treated and their relationship goes on as normal. Anyhow, due to her infection, she has been isolated, and Ethan is only allowed to watch her rest from afar. At least for the first couple of weeks.

During his stay there, he had a conversation with Redfield, the man who rescued them who turns out to be the leader of the Dulvey clean up operation. When he first came into his ward, Redfield brought him "gifts".

"Ethan Winters, its about time we actually have a proper conversation. Let me reintroduce myself again, the name's Redfield". He says that in a calm and friendly manner as he gestured for a handshake.

"Yeah, I've been meaning to see you again to properly say thanks". Ethan replied, stood up and accept the handshake. "Thank you for saving us, wouldn't be here without you guys".

"Just doing my job, Mr. Winters. Someone gotta clean up these B.O.Ws for threatening mankind. Been doing this for years.". He smiled. "Anyway, Mr. Winters-"

"Ethan, you can call me Ethan".

"Right, Ethan, I need to talk to you regarding your wife, Mia. I hope now's a good time."

"Ye-yeah, come, have a seat." Ethan says as he invited Redfield to sit down. "I too want to know a lot of things regarding my wife. The truth is, after experiencing the baker's residence, I knew something was off about her. How she knew about the serums, the pictures I saw of her and Eveline...What was she doing there actually? What her motive and everything else. All that I know is that she lied to me to go on the trip for "babysitting" job". Ethan explained

"Well then, about that, we thoroughly went through the Baker's residence, the salt mine, the ship and the areas surrounding the perimeter. As you can see, I brought you some gifts we found from the shipwreck". He said as he pulled in a luggage back and some other things stored inside a box. "We already open and went through all the objects we found here and I can confirm these belongs to your wife, Mia".

Ethan's eyes widened a bit. He immediately opened the luggage and confirmed it was Mia's belongings. Dirty with the mold of course but there is no mistake it was Mia's clothings, lotions, perfumes and...small notebook that says "Mia's diary" which is the only part somehow not covered in mold. Before he even opens it Redfield says "It's no use, we went through it but all the pages has been stained, you can't even read anything from there sadly". 

Ethan lets out a disappointed sigh and opens it anyway only for it to drop some black stained covered pictures. Ethan recognized most of the pictures even just by seeing the parts of it. It is no other than pictures of Mia and him together. He went through the other boxes only to find out its her jewelery box. When traveling, Mia used to carry the box with her, he knew because he was the one who bought her this. In it, her jewelery remains untouched from the mold and the one that caught his eyes was the glittering diamond ring among them. He never felt so relieved. She kept it in the safest of place. "Even after all this time...". He mumbled to himself as he overwhelm with emotions.

"Sorry to interrupt, Ethan". Redfield said. Ethan look over to Redfield as he hand over Ethan a document. "This is the actual important thing which I need you to see". Ethan took the document and his eyes widened even wider. His face has pure shocked in it. This is no document, this is an order transcript and what is written on it is cursed. To Ethan, this is a cursed.

_"Special Operations Division_   
_Director Alan Droney and Caretaker Mia Winters_

_Recent reports suggest that if Eveline remains at her current location, she is at a high risk of being stolen by opposing organizations. Your orders, therefore, are to transfer Eveline to our Central American branch for safe keeping until further notice._

_During transfer, be sure to adhere to the following protocols:_

_■ Act as parental guardians for Eveline at all times to avoid suspicion._

_■ Manage Eveline's vitals via the Genome Codex provided._

_■ If the mission is compromised beyond reconciliation, dispose of Eveline."_

_"...Caretaker Mia Winters...." Ethan murmured. "Parental guardian....Eveline..."_

The room went silent.

"Ha-Haha....HAHAHAHA". Ethan suddenly burst into laughter. "What a joke, HAHAHAHAHAHA". he laughed like a maniac while he slapped and slammed the hospital bed multiple times. Taking multiple deep breath in between laughter."What a stupid joke, why am I even laughing at this". Ethan continued to laughed for quite a while. Ethan does not know what becomes of him. Reading this script somehow made him laughed. He doest not understand why he laughed. Is it the wording? Is it the order? or is it because Mia's lies just went straight down his nose. Either way he was so caught in emotion he could not help but to laugh it off. It was a weird situation. He knew he should not be laughing but he did it anyway like some sort of reaction wired to his brain all this time after being through the most tense moment of his life. Redfield on the other hand, kept silent as he just let Ethan let it all out.

"Well I guess, that is all I need to know. We already do background check on the both of you. Ethan, I'm happy to tell you that you're an innocent survivor and we'll let you go once you're done with your treatment. Your wife, however, well... an interrogation is in order".

"..."

"..."

"..."

"If nothing else... then I would like to take my leave"

"Wait..."

"Yes, Ethan?"

"After the interrogation...what will you do with her?"

"That would depend on her answers I'm afraid"

"So what is it? Will she go to jail or not?"

"As I said, it depends on her"

"...What if...What if I convince her to confess instead? What will happen then?"

"Well, that will be a lot more convenient to say the least. But I can't guarantee what happened after. Hopefully things would be better should she cooperate".

"..."

"Sorry, Ethan".

Redfield then leaves the room leaving Ethan staring blankly onto the floor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how was it? i hope its not too bad of a writing. As mentioned earlier, i never write anything like this before. The last time I wrote stories like this was back in high school LOL
> 
> P/S: I hope I didn't write myself into a corner here....


	2. The confrontation

"Alright, Mr. Winters, the results of diagnosis have came in and we're happy to let you know that you're around 99% cured". Said the doctor.

"Just 99%?" Ethan asked.

"Well your body is now pretty much functioning normally now and the effect of the mold is pretty much at minimal". The doctor smiled with confidence "All you need to do now is pretty much take the medicine we gave you based on the prescription. Please get it on time and do not, and I repeat do not skip it. We don't want to give the mold a chance to mutate." She added.

"Will do, doc. You don't even have to tell me on that one". Ethan replied back with a smirk.

"Well I'm glad you take it very seriously, Mr. Winters. Just making sure". The doctor said with a chuckle. "Anyhow, while your condition is pretty much a-okay now. We still want to make sure that everything is going fine even after you leave this facility. And by that, we decided for you to have a bi-weekly check up. Don't worry, its going to be bi-weekly at first, should everything goes well then we don't need further check up anymore.

"Fair enough". Ethan agreed.

"Oh and before I forget, since this mold messes with the mind, we would like to emphasize for you to let us know your state of mind. Something like anxiety, stress, anger...all sort of emotions. Please take note on your behaviour and report it back during the check-ups". The doctor added.

"...Okay, doc". Ethan replied a bit hesitant.

"Something wrong Mr. Winters?" the doctor asked. "You look distressed".

"It's nothing. Umm, how is my wife, doctor? Is she doing okay?" Ethan asked.

"OH!" the doctor exclaimed. "I totally forgot. I'm so sorry Mr. Winters. Goodness me, no wonder I've been feeling like I'm missing something. My apologies. This is so unprofessional of me". She apologizes.

"Well uhh, its okay doctor. You have been working hard trying to find a cure for this. Probably, have a lot of things in mind there...haha"

"Maybe you're right, still my apologies"

"No, no, its okay doc. Its all good"

"Anyhow, good news on your wife too. We manage to reduce her infection significantly. She's stabilized now after last night operation".

"Wow, really!?"

"Yeah, last night was a huge success. She's now placed out of isolation. Meaning you can now visit her"

"Thank you! Thank you so much doctor. I don't know how can I repay you".

"No worries, Mr. Winters. Helping people like you is my pleasure. By the way, her new room is basically your old room. We decided to place her there, well because you know".

"Wait, what? How come I didn't notice that?"

"Well you were asleep at the time. Her operation finished around 4:40 in the morning and we placed her next to your bed".

"....That explains the curtain..."

"...Anyhow, you're discharged today. Don't worry, after we do some diagnosis later, If her condition turns out positive. We'll transfer her to a Hospital in Dallas, near where you live. Will take just a couple days though".

"Thanks doctor Chambers" Ethan said as he extend his right hand for a handshake.

"Rebecca, Rebecca Chambers. You don't have to be so formal with me, Ethan". The doctor replied delightedly as she accept his handshake.

"Right, thanks Rebecca, I will never forget what you did for us both. One day, if you plan to come to Dallas, give me a holler. I'll be sure to welcome you anytime".

"Well, off you go now. Go on, don't keep her waiting". She said as she wave goodbye.

"Right, thanks again Rebecca".

Immediately, Ethan took off from the doctor's office and went straight to his room. In his mind right now, is just wanting to see her. Finally, to be able to actually be with her in peace. No monsters, no molded, no bakers, no Eveline. Just him and her. Together, finally. But, slowly, with every step he took, slowly, the truth about Mia creeps in. His pace became slower and slower until he stopped completely in the middle of the hallway. A thought came to his mind, will he ever see Mia the same way ever again? Will they be able to be together again, living the normal life they used to? will he ever love her ever again? The last thought shook him out of a sudden.

Ever since he read the letter, he became confused and conflicted. Whatever memories of Mia he had just doesn't add up. How can someone as sweet as Mia, end up working in a crime syndicate. She has always been a nice gentle person. Caring and kind. That's the Mia he remembered. However, its true, that she is hiding a lot of thing and its exposed in the Baker's incident. To think he's been married to a super secret spy, a "Special Operations Division" to top it off. Like WOW Mia, just wow.

Ethan continues walking.

During his time in recovery, Ethan has spend most of his time investigating on Mia's employer, The Connection. Lucky him this base of operation has a library in which by Redfield's permission able to view at least some records of B.O.W incidents. There he found out that The Connection, is not one company but rather a joint collaboration of multiple companies. If he recalled correctly back at the salt mine laboratory, he saw a company logo "TENTSU" on one of the machines in there. Not much is known about The Connection as their operation as they operate in secrecy. Well until its exposed few weeks back in the Dulvey incident. One of the reason stated why they're not just one company is because Umbrella was so big and dominant back in the day. Ethan remembers the events of Raccoon City back in 1998 which leads to the downfall of Umbrella. It was the first black mark in history of a virus outbreak in recent years due to a man-made virus called the T-virus. People turned into zombies and ate people dead or alive. It was really fucked up. However that was nothing compared to a more recent outbreak back in 2013, the Tall Oaks incident. 2013 was definitely a fucked up year. He was lucky, him and Mia chose to buy a house in Texas and lives there. Thank god, there's not much happening in there but still the chances are very high considering what happened that year. If Raccoon City incident was too far away and surreal enough, Tall Oaks incident happened out of nowhere. If that wasn't enough, even China was hit by the same virus called the C-Virus. That was definitely a slap to reality that bioterrorism is pretty much a norm in this world. So far, after Tall Oaks, there was no more incident of bioterrorism....until he found out what happened in this very day.

"Mia, I still can't believe you're part of this". Ethan talks to himself. He now knows that bioterrorism was never fully stopped. There're always another that takes its place just hidden from public. He had goosebumps thinking that there are more monsters like Eveline or worse are still made to this day just hidden somewhere in unknown locations. Nowhere is safe to him now. Outbreak could happen anytime anywhere. Regardless, witnessing the events of Dulvey was sort of karma in disguise. Should he not go to Dulvey, nobody would know Eveline's existence and a clue to what is The Connection. This might be just the breakthrough the BSAA needed to end one of the big players of this inhumane game. Surprisingly enough, as of right now, the only key to The Connection, is non other than his wife, Mia Winters.

As if its some sort of cheesy movie, the moment he thought of that one person, he already standing in front of the door of the room. Mia, is just right behind this door. And only now he suddenly had a thought on how do he approach her. He was so lost in thought he didn't thought of this. He is not sure how should he talk to her. On one hand, she was the reason he's here, the love of his life, to finally able to see her again after all those lonely years. On the other, she is....was a bioterrorist, at least he hoped so. Sometimes he wished he didn't went to the library. Reading those records, made him resenting her more and more. Ethan is in denial. "How could you, Mia..." he whispers to himself.

"Well, nothing is gonna happen if I just stand here. Alright, here we go". He said as if talking to someone else with him. Regardless, Ethan opens the door and slowly walked towards the curtained bed. He then slides the curtain open revealing his wife, still sleeping after the operation. "Mia...". Ethan continues to whisper to himself. He may have resent her during his way here but seeing her bed-ridden state just broke his heart. He thought he would hate her but he couldn't. Why would someone like her involved deeply with this inhumane crime? Why Mia? Why would you do this? How can you do this? It is just so hard for him. Without him knowing, his teeth are grit, his hands are in fist. Anger, disappointment, disbelief, denial, all sorts of emotions are running in him. Ethan took awhile to calm himself down, took a chair nearby and sat next to her near her face. She's noticeably thinner, her hair is a mess and her skin is pale. Well at least not grey-ish and ghoul-like when she attacked him. Just pale like normal human at least. He even noticed she doesn't even have any scar on the area where he hacked her with the axe. That is actually quite a relief to him.

"..."

"...I should at least tidy up her hair a little, I guess". Ethan thought to himself after being annoyed of seeing her messy hair for awhile now. Ethan have always loved Mia's curly messy hair. It's one of her distinct beauty that caught her in his eyes. He used to run his fingers through her hair, sometimes pulled it playfully, or occasionally annoy her by poking her ears or nose with her own hair. and Mia liked that a lot... except when he pokes her with her hair. As Ethan reached out his hand to tidy up her hair, Mia's eyes twitch a little.

"Mia?" Ethan spoke softly as he was taken aback. He somehow, couldn't hold his joy and started smiling.

"mmmm..." Mia grunted for a bit before she started to move a bit.

"Mia..." Ethan called her name again which in return helped Mia waking up. Her eyes slowly opens, and tilt her head towards Ethan.

"Ethan...?" She spoke with a soft weak voice. It seems like it took all her strength to just say his name. Seeing her husband right next to her, made her eyes widened. Surprised she called out his name again, "Ethan..!" Still weak however.

"Yeah, its me, I'm here, Mia." said Ethan as he help pushing her hair behind her ears. "Good morning, babe". He greeted her with a child-like smile. Words cannot describe how happy he is. All of his resentment earlier, gone. Just like that after hearing her voice. Tears welling up in his eyes. Even after they were saved, they haven't talk to each other for weeks. The only interaction they have was just him looking at her from afar and even that was only for awhile.

"How long...has it been?" Mia asked softly.

"Almost a month now" He replied. "Hang on, I'm gonna call the doctor, I'll be back right away, wait for me." Ethan immediately rushed towards the door looking for the doctor. During the moment, Mia stared at the ceiling. "...a month, huh". She thought to herself. 

Time was something very foreign to her ever since the boat crash. Locked deep inside the dark dungeon of the Bakers that always feels like forever, have made the concept of time vanished. She couldn't tell whether its morning, afternoon or night. It's all the same to her. She felt as if she had died that day. She have committed many sins. This is just karma. This is hell. Literally. 

Tortured everyday.

Severe migraine everyday.

Frequent killings and bloodshed.

Eat indescribable lump of disgusting "meat" or whatever those are.

Everlasting fear in everlasting darkness.

If that does not describe hell then what is? Doomed forever in the endless suffering, she accepted her fate. It is too late to repent, it is too late to regret. She was broken. Both body and soul.

"If only..." as Mia about to finished her thought, Ethan and the doctor arrived snapping Mia out of her thoughts. "Good morning, Mrs Winters. How are you feeling today?" Doctor Rebecca greets Mia with a warm and friendly smile.

"Feels a lot better....my head feels so light....and clear right now" Mia answered still weak trying to smile back at the doctor.

"I'm sorry to disturb you for awhile but I'm gonna make you sit upright, is that okay Mrs Winters?" the doctor asked while checking Mia's pulse in her arm. "I need to check a few things with you."

Mia nods "It's okay...do what you need to do". She replied.

The doctor then reached for the buttons under the hospital bed and raise it onto an angle in which Mia is sit upright comfortably. She then proceed to do various check ups on her including asking what her mental conditions and what not. Mia gave her full attention to the doctor in the meantime Ethan has been observing her while sitting on the bed across them. The way Mia respond to the doctor, the way she talks,...just made Ethan felt even more conflicted. Again, why, Mia? Just why? He need answers. He would not go back home until she spills everything. The wait for the doctor to finished is killing him right now.

"Alright Mrs Winters, that will do for today. I'm happy to report that your condition is now far far better than when you first came. It should be smooth sailing from here, you might even get discharged earlier than schedule". AS she said that, she noticed Ethan that has been observing for a while. "Ah right, well I've done what I came here for. I'll leave the two of you alone. I know you both have a lot to catch up". She added.

After both Mia and Ethan gave their thanks to the doctor, she then left the room leaving the couple alone together finally. Ethan stood up and took a sit next to Mia again. They're both quiet. A lot has been going on both of their mind. Should they be bold and straightforward? or should they open up for a bit first? Regardless after a while, Ethan musters up the strength to finally open his mouth.

"Mia-"

"Ethan-"

They both called out each other in unison. Their eyes met and genuine smiles came from both of them. "You first?" Ethan said smiling towards her. Mia's smiles slowly disappears as she took a deep breath.

"Ethan...I... I'm sorry.... It's all my fault.... If it weren't for me. None of this would have happen...I'm sorry". She apologized as her head is down as if bowing to him. Her voice have cracked in it and as if she doesn't have enough air. Sobbing and crying.

Ethan was taken aback seeing his wife crying her heart out in such fashion. Mia have always been the happy go lucky woman in contrary to his stoic and dull personality. Mia rarely cried, she have always been the positive one. Seeing her cry straight up from just smiling earlier is just so hard for him to behold. "Forgive me, Ethan....I'm so sorry" as her cries continued. As her sobbing continues, Ethan is composing himself, collecting words to say to her. After awhile, Ethan held her hand and finally spoke.

"Mia, I know you've been through a lot." he said as he firming his grip on her hand. "It saddens me to see you like this. However, we both know that you're deeply involved in all of this. I just...wanted to know the truth. and I wanted to hear it directly from you. Whatever you remember of course" Deja vu. This is almost exactly the conversation they had on the boat while they escaped the Bakers. Except this time there are no more danger lurking in the deep dark water to bother them. Ethan of course did not forget that she told him that she does not remember. He is trying to be careful with his words.

Hearing those words, Mia looked at Ethan's hand which is holding hers. She recomposed herself and the sobbing started to slow down until she finally became calm moments after.

"Ethan...Eveline, restored my memories while you were captured by Eveline in the ship. I...already remembered everything since then..." Mia answered him softly.

"Oh, that's....convenient." Ethan's eyebrow raised.

"Yeah...she just wanted me to remember everything so that I can be her mother, her family again...its all.....it doesn't matter now."

"...."

"Ethan...I'm going to tell you, everything that I know. No more hiding, no more bullshit." She said as she slowly lift up her face and looked directly at him. "The truth and only the truth. I swear"

"Alright, Mia." Ethan straighten his back. "I'm ready." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying my best to build the story before the big reveal


	3. Turn back the Pendulum I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Its finally here! This one took damn long time, see the notes at the end for more detail. Enjoy

\----------------------  
September 2008  
\----------------------

"Babe!"

"..."

"Hey baaaaaabe!"

"Mmmm"

"Wakey, wakey!"

"..."

Suddenly. Psst! psst! psst!

"AAAAhh! COOOOLLDD!!!" Mia screamed out loud.

"Gooood morning, babe!" said the man.

"Brrr, so damn cold," she said with a shiver, "You should have warned me first!"

"Its much more effective and efficient this way, heheh," he laughed as he spun the spray bottle like a cowboy slinging a gun. "Come on now, get up. Take a shower. Today's the day. Lets go, lets go. chop-chop."

"Okay, daaaaaaaaaaaaaaad" she said lazily with an annoying rebel teenager tone while rubbing her eyes.

"Right, I'm gonna go ahead and make breakfast then." He said

As he went out of the room, she took a glance at the digital clock on the bedside table. The green LED shows 5:43 a.m on the dot. She let out a big yawn while stretching her arms over her head. She then gets off the bed, grab her towel and head straight to the bathroom. After she was done showering, she stare at herself in the bathroom mirror and said "Today's the day. I'm going to score the interview and land the job. I can feel it!" She then went on and put on her clothes on and apply her makeup. Finally satisfied on how she looks, she gave herself finger guns and a wink before finally went out of the room.

As she reached the kitchen, the man greeted her "Morning, sugar. You look fine this morning."

"Morning, baby! Thanks!" She said while walking towards him. Their lips met for a moment before she sat down at the table."Mmmmmm, smells so good. Damn, I'm so hungry."

"Today's breakfast, I called it, Ethan's Eggs and Bacon Special!" He said excitedly as he carry the plates towards the table. "Here ya go, enjoy."

"Yaaaaay!" she laughed while clapping celebrating the food served in front of her.

"And heeeeere's your coffee miss, all black just the way you like it" He said while pouring the black liquid to her mug.

"Wait what?"

"Just kidding, I'll go grab the creamer," he said. He then went to the counter and get a can of creamer and placed it on the table. "I still can't figure how you want in a coffee, so I guess you better add it yourself."

"Haha, its okay, baby. Sometimes my taste in coffee just varied, you know". She laughed it off while proceeding to add creamer into her cup of coffee.

The sound of clanking utensils, munching noises and occasional slurp can be heard as the two enjoying their meal. They had some small banter in between their bites. It was a peaceful Monday morning like any other. Sounds of door closing and footsteps can be heard from neighbouring walls indicates their neighbours are also up and ready to start their day as well. Once they were done eating, he placed the plates and mugs on the kitchen sink. 

"Just leave it there, I'll wash them when I get home later." She said.

"Oh, okay." He said. "Alright, are you ready?"

"Yeah, lets go."

After making sure the all the switches and appliances are turned off and the front door are locked. They head out from their apartment towards the lift, going down to the ground floor. Once there, they head towards Ethan's car which located not far from them. As he started the car, the dashboard light up. The clock indicates 6:53 a.m. "Earlier than planned, nice" He said. He then drove the car out of the apartment are and onto the main road.

"You okay, babe? You've been quiet for awhile now. Where did all the energy go?" He said after he took a glance at her.

"I-I'm just nervous. You know, this isn't my first time going for a job interview. But after nine to ten interviews and then nothing afterwards...I can't help but feeling anxious, you know..." She said while looking at her phone.

"Hey, you've been doing a lot of studying and have been to many interviews already. By now you should have the experience on tackling any interviews. I'm pretty confident you'll get it this time." He said trying to cheer her up.

"You know what, you're right. I should be more confident. I'll land the job this time! I'll gave them answer so good they can't even say no!" She said enthusiastically with her right hand ball in a fist and strike a victory pose.

"That's the spirit!" He responded. 

"But..."

"But what?"

"What if I failed again?" She said a little somber.

He went quiet for a bit and then he said nonchalantly "If that happens, remember, when a door closes, another opens."

"Again with that quote?" She looked at him with a smile. "You really like that quote, huh? This is definitely not the first time I heard you said it."

"Yeah, I do. Why?"

She just smiled and lean her head towards the window while her eyes looking at the outside world as it passed by. There is something about Ethan that just calms her down. Whatever he said, or whenever he is with her, he always able to repel her negativity without fail. All her nervousness just now have just gone. Its hard to admit that she completely fell deep in love with him ever since they first met back in college.

"I like it," She took a glance at him before looking back outside "It sounds cheesy but to be able to see positivity and keep on going after a failure. To be able to never give up and keep improving, will eventually leads one to success."

He just chuckled and replied, "Fuck, its so deep!"

"Heeey~ you're the one started it!"

Then she turned on the radio for some morning tune. As the radio speaker let out the popular hit songs of the 2000s, she started singing along with it. He tapped his fingers to the beat at first until he unconsciously sing along together with her. Few minutes passed and after taking a turn on the left

"Oh here, you can drop me here. I can walk from here." She said while pointing to the side of the road.

"Roger, roger." He replied. With blinking light toggles on and off, he made sure no other cars behind him before he moved and finally stopped at the roadside.

She kissed him then said "Well, here I go. Wish me luck, baby!"

"Right, go for it! I believe in you! Let me know how it goes once you're done." He replied.

"Okay, thanks! Bye, baby! Have a nice day at work!" she said while waving him goodbye. He waved back before turning his attention to the road and took off.

She stood there watching his car moved on and disappeared after he took a right turn at the T-junction. She then turned towards the path leading to the office building and began walking.

It has been almost a year since she moved into Ethan's apartment right after she graduated college. Times were hard at the time as her mother passed away as soon as she graduated. It really broke her so she took a month break before finally starting to look for a job. Luckily for her, Ethan was there for her the whole time and have been doing his best to support her despite busy with work. For this reason alone, Mia have been working hard to repay him back. Its not like Ethan had not helped her before during the college days, its just that the fact he went this far for her makes her felt so indebted towards him and she took it personally. After failing, her first interview, she immediately took a part-time job as a babysitter for their neighbours to help pay the rent not wanting to be a freeloader. It does not pay much but its better than nothing and she gets to know the neighbours around. Ethan at the time was just a junior programmer so he himself does not make that much and. Even though he already let her know that he appreciates her contribution, to her it was not enough.

She thought to herself "I will not disappoint you again, Ethan. Not this time. I swear."

.

.

.

She went out of the office building and checked her phone. It was 12:11 on the afternoon. On the top left of her phone screen, there was the SMS icon waiting to be opened. She let out a sigh and press the shortcut key to open her message inbox. As she expected it was from him asking how did the interview went with a bunch of smiles and heart emoticons. However, she decided to not reply him yet and placed her phone back into her purse before heading to the bus stop nearby. From the bus stop until the whole trip home, her mind was in disarray. She kept thinking of how the interview went over and over and kept thinking of what alternate answers she could and should have given during the interview. Will she be able to land the job this time around? She thought the interview went well, so far she thought she had answer all the questions thrown at her but could not help but ponder that if her answers were good enough. Just few months back, she had some interviews where she thought that it went well only to leave her hanging and never heard back.

The bus stopped at her destination and she got off. There was a cafe nearby but she does not feel like eating so she walked towards the apartment, got home, and immediately jump onto the bed face first without removing her coat.

"Babe!"

"..."

"Hey baaaaaabe!"

"Mmmm"

"Babe, wake up!"

"E...Ethan?"

"Yeah, its me, wake up, its dark already"

"Wha-What time is it?"

"Almost eight now"

"Oh my god, eight!?"

She sit up right immediately and looked at him with a shocked look.

"You okay babe? I just got home and the house is completely dark then I found you lying on the bed. You didn't answer any of my calls or messages either which really makes me worry"

"I-I-I'm sorry, I must have completely passed out. I'm sorry I haven't done the dishes or cook anyth-"

"Hey hey hey, don't worry about it. We can eat outside or just order a delivery tonight"

"..."

"You need a drink? Why don't you go wash your face and get change first, I'll go and get you a glass of water"

"Oh, umm, okay....thanks, Ethan. If possible I... don't want to go out tonight, can you help order anything?"

"Sure, what do you want?"

"Anything you like, up to you"

"Sure, I'll just order KFC. No complains, right?"

"Yeah, that'll do. Thanks, baby"

As he went off to the kitchen, she went to the bathroom and look at herself in the mirror. Turning on the faucet, and washes her face two, three, four, and five times before finally satisfied. Turning off the water, she was about to reach for the face towel before she caught looking at herself in the mirror. Her hair was messy and unkempt while her eyes were baggy and tired. 

"Mia?"

She gasped in surprised as she turned towards the bathroom door where he stood there with a glass of water in hand.

"Mia, are you really okay? You've been standing there looking at the mirror for a while now. You're not possessed, are you?" he said with a chuckle but in a concerning tone. "You wanna talk it out? Come here, lets sit at the bed." He said worryingly as he lead her to the bed.

She did not say anything but complied and sit next to him. He gave her the glass and she immediately drank it with one take.

"Feeling better?"

"Yeah, thanks" she said before she put down the glass on the bedside table near the alarm clock.

"You looked like you had a terrible day, hon," he said while trying to fix her hair a little. "Let's hear it then, talking it out will make you feel better."

"Ethan...do you really think I can get the job?"

"Of course I do!" After he said that, he looked closely at her face expression "Something wrong during the interview?"

"No, no. The interview went well...I think. Its just that, I feel like I should have answered it differently. I feel like, what I told them wasn't enough. To be honest, I'm really not confident. In a way I think I bomb it."

"Nah, I think you're just overthinking it, Mia. I wouldn't call it a bomb if you could answer everything. How's the interviewer, are they nice?"

"Well, there were two people. They both seem nice. Its just one of them asked complicated questions and hard scenarios. That's when I thought my answers just doesn't feel good enough."

"From the sound of it, seems like everything is going just fine! I'm 100% sure you'll get it."

She just dumbfounded looking at him smiling like a total dork and found herself giggled at the sight. "Perhaps, you're right. Maybe I am overthinking. Yeah, you're right. This is a good thing. Thanks, Ethan." she smiled and hug him. "Thanks, for believing in me."

"Always, babe. Always."

They both look at each others eyes while embracing each other, slowly their lips met. All her worries gone, just like that with just simple exchange of words with him. To her, he is the best thing that happened to her. Out of nowhere, he came into her life and they suddenly they were inseparable. He was a year older than her and was her senior in college. However, he was from computer science school while her in biology. These two should not have met due to the nature of their studies but by fate, they did. It started when she needed a ride back to the dorm on a rainy day after she missed her bus. It was getting late and Ethan with his car somehow stopped by and offer her a ride. A few banter in the car, learning that she was new, he encourage her that she can ask him for help if she needed anything and she gladly accept. From there, they started to develop feeling for each other and became a couple.

_Ding Dong_.

"Oh, dinner's here"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Boy, oh boy. I'm really having a hard time on this one. Originally, I wanted the story to be just Mia confessing and telling Ethan everything. But then I'm having a dilemma of just Mia dialogue could be a long ass paragraph where she told her tale and Ethan be like uh huh, yep, mm hmm. It felt dull and crampy to write.
> 
> So while keeping the original, i end up making a flashback route where Mia story is written rather than told.This is the reason why it took so damn long. I'm so sorry if it bother you guys and I hope you guys like it.
> 
> Also would love on opinion of would you guys like some interlude in between flashback which is in the present for Ethan's respond to part of the stories or just back to back flashback then back to the present?


	4. Turn Back the Pendulum II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THOUSAND APOLOGIES!!! This should have come out first week after new year but fucking Vergil dropped for DMC 5 and I bought a game from christmas sale took all my time. Then when I started working back with this chapter I got super busy in real life. Anyhow really hyped with the upcoming RE8 teaser this friday and now should be a good time to publish this chapter  
> without further ado, enjoy

\----------------------  
October 2008  
\----------------------

"Oh no, Mia! we're out of green! Now we can't finish paint the trees anymore!" cried the little girl in distress showing Mia an empty green paint tube.

"Oh its okay, sweetie," Mia said with a smile on her face "Not to worry, do you know that you can make your own green?"

"What!? How!?" said the little girl confused.

Mia giggled. "What I'm going to show you is a magic trick!".

"Magic trick!?" said a little boy who sat two seats away from his sister. "Wait for me, I want to see too!". He then get off his chair and ran next to Mia.

Ensuring the kids seated properly, Mia then grabbed the colour palette as well as the blue and yellow paint. "Okay here's the trick, first we squeezed out the blue paint and then the yellow paint onto the same slot." she said while doing as she told the kids. "Now, we take the paint brush, dip a little water and..."

She mixes both colour until there was only green left in the palette slot. "Ta-da!!"

"Woooooowwwww!" said the kids excitedly in unison. The boy added, "How did you do that!? The blue and yellow gone and only green left!"

"Hehe, actually this is not magic. Its science! What I did was simply mixing two colours and it will combine to become a new one!"

"Oooooooooooh" said the kids surprised in unison.

"Here, why don't I show you kids the colour wheel". She grab another piece of the drawing paper and draws three circles with that intersects with each other. She then labeled the circles with respective colours and its combination. "As you can see here, just from these three colours which are red, blue and yellow, you can make a lot of other colours!"

However, before she was able to grabbed the respective paint tubes, her phone rang.

"Oh, I'm sorry kids, I need to answer the phone. Can you two mix the colours just like I show you? Once you mix them just paint them on where I labeled them, okay?"

"Okay!" the kids answered in unison.

"Alright, I'll be right back." She then grabbed her purse and then took out her phone and went towards the kitchen. Ensuring the children were within her sight, she looked at the phone to see the caller name before answering the phone.

"Hey baby!"

"Hey, love. How you doing?"

"I'm fine, thanks! I'm currently babysitting at Mrs Brown's house right now. How about you? How's work? its rare that you called me during office hours."

"Ah okay, glad you're doing fine. I'm not doing so well here though. Anyway, I called because I need to tell you that I'm going to be real late tonight. There's something wrong with the system and need to be resolved ASAP. If I'm still not back by nine you can just save the dinner. I'll probably eat at work tonight."

"Oh...Oh okay...One of those days, huh? Well, okay...hope it'll not get too complicated. Hope you can come home sooner rather than later. I miss you so much already, baby."

"Yeah, I miss you too, babe. I'm sorry, I'll do my best to come home as soon as I can. I gotta get back to work. Gotta go, babe. Wish me luck! Bye!"

"Take care! See you soon. Bye, baby!"

After the called ended, she let out a big sighed. As she said, its one of those days. She understood well on how being a software developer means. Ethan already described which was more like ranting it to her so many times before that his job most of the time will always end up in him working till late at night. This was not the first time and for sure is not going to be the last. Its just the nature of this kind of job. It will probably the same for her should she get the job as a researcher as well. Sometimes, she wonder if she gets the job, how will their relationship going to end up. Will they be able to actually have a family? If so, should one of them stop working to take care of their presumed child? She hoped that would not be the case even when they are both working. However, she was not too worried about it yet. As of now, their priority is to have proper stable income. Once the time come, then they will consider having their own children. She hoped that day will come sooner rather than later. Back to reality, she took a good look at the kids she was babysitting, smiled and thought to herself "One day..." before going back to attend them.

  
.

.

.

Sounds of thunder can be heard in the distance as well as the wind howling. She got off the couch and went towards the window. It was dark outside even with the street light on the sides. The shops were all closed except for that one twenty four seven convenient store in the distance. She sighed and went back to the couch snuggling in her blanket continue watching the TV. The show was neither interesting nor exciting to her. She merely used the TV as nothing more as an excuse to stay up late, waiting for him. During the wait, she kept glancing at the clock on the wall that ticked ever so slowly but steadily towards midnight. Slowly, she began to start to worry. A few moments later, bright light came from the window illuminate the apartment for a brief moment accompanied by a loud crash few seconds later.

_Tap_

_Tap tap tap_

The sound became louder and more frequent until the it tapped madly outside. She reached for her phone, staring at it for awhile before beginning to start typing. The message icon goes out as she hit the send button, she waited anxiously for a reply but none came back. "Must be driving....please be safe..." she thought to herself. The TV programmed ended with the late night news as it now shows the no signal vector background. She let out a big sigh and turn off the TV via the remote and turned herself into a burrito before laying down. Her Anxiousness began to rise with every passing second keeping her awake the whole time.

 _Tick tock tick tock_. 

Then suddenly a click can be heard from the direction of the front door. The moment she heard the sound she immediately got up and rushed towards the door. As he door opens, the sound of heavy rain came in flooding in alongside the man completely drenched.

"Welcome home!!!"

"Eh-"

Before he could even respond, she already wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him.

"Oh my, you're completely soaked. Stay here, I'll go get you get a towel."

"Uh yeah, thanks, might as well bring me a bucket and a mop too while you're at it." he said while taking off his wet socks and shoes. She then returned with the things he asked and hand it over to him standing on his own puddle of water. "You want something warm? How about some hot chocolate?"

"Yeah, that'll be great. Brrr, so cold."

"Okay!" she said as she went off to the kitchen while he dried himself. 

"Remind me to bring the umbrella tomorrow morning," He said while squeezing off the water from his coat into the bucket "I kept forgetting its raining season now." He then went off to washroom to clean and get changed.

"Kay~" she replied from the kitchen. Hearing his voice and his footsteps, confirming of his presence made her smile like an idiot. Even though its just a normal bad weather, she felt so relieved that nothing bad happened and he came home in one piece. She is not really a worrywart kind of person. When put in difficult situations, she almost always go through it while being calm and collected, she can handle herself no problem. However, when it comes to someone she deeply care about especially him she cannot help but to get anxious of their well being especially since he is the only one she had left after her late mother.

"Must have been a rough day at work, huh?" she said as she saw him got out of the room and walk towards the kitchen.

"Yeah, even now its not even fixed yet but after telling the client the issue, we somehow manage to delay it for another week or so. So my boss told me to just get back home and try again tomorrow morning. Its a miracle they actually listen for once." As he sat at the table.

"Yeah, that's very fortunate, that's actually quite kind of your boss to let you go for the night," She said while handing over his drink. She observed him as he took a sip from his mug, "Must be super exhausted, huh?"

He did not reply her but rather just taking his time drinking from the mug.

"Have you eaten dinner yet? I've made your portion too but I already put it in the fridge like you told me to. I can take it out and reheat it up for you."

"No, its okay. Already ate at work. Thanks."

She just smiled and laid her head on her arms on the dining table while still continue to observe him. While drinking, he noticed that she herself look just as tired as he does, "You know, you don't have to wait for me to get home next time. Didn't I told you this last time too?"

"If I do that, then I won't be able to see you in a long while". She looked at him lazily. "When you're busy, you're reaaally busy."

"I guessed that's true, I missed you a lot too every time it happened." He smiled back at her before taking another sip. "Still though, you don't have to force yourself. Just go to bed if you're tired. I know damn well that dealing with kids aren't easy."

"No kidding" she giggled a little. He just smiled as he caress her cheek and slowly brush her bang behind her ear. "So how long is it gonna be this time?" She asked.

"Weeks, like usual. That is also assuming everything went smoothly which I doubt it would. There're always things that's gonna go wrong somewhere. I can guarantee it." he took a sip. "Also, I really feel like quitting this shithole of a company."

"oh? Tell me about it."

"Its just hard when you're the one who have to do all the work and to make it worse this project uses an old legacy system which actually is quite new to me so I had to do research on my own. I really don't know what Jennie's been doing this whole time and Paul, the only senior who knows all about how this thing works was never around 90% of the time! Then there's my boss who keep piling the workloads more than we can chew with so much expectation and unrealistic goals. No matter what I told him, he just said shit like 'DoN't MaKe ExCuSeS' or 'StOp BeInG lAzY'. And THEN there's the client who don't know jack shit what they actually want! Always changing requirements like changing TV channels, make up your fucking mind, damn it!" He rant before taking another sip.

Noticing the way she looked at him he immediately said, "Sorry if I raise my voice all of a sudden, I'm just so stressed out, you know."

"No, no its fine. That's what I'm here for. You can vent anything with me. Just let it all out. Whatever you want to say, I'll hear it." she smiled and continued, "When I get a proper job in the future, just quit this one and find a better place. It should be easy if its you."

He smiled back and took a sip, "Yeah, thanks babe. Speaking of job...how did the job hunting go? Did they call you back?"

Her smile disappeared and slowly her face turned gloomy. She shook her head, "No...nothing, nothing at all."

"Oh, I'm sorry..."

"No, its okay. I haven't given up yet though. I already sent a lot more CVs to other companies. I'm sure I'll get another one soon enough. I hope..."

The two went quiet. Only the sound of the seemingly non-stop rain and the occasion thunder can be heard. This conversation have started to come out a couple times fairly recently. When the first time it happened, they were pretty emotional about it. He always told her to keep trying and encourage her to do her best. Naturally if the same thing kept happening, there are just so much one can say and eventually, silence is the best option. Finishing his drink, he got up.

"Ethan..."

"yeah?"

"Where did I go wrong? What did I do wrong? I studied hard. I gave my best. So why....?"

No answer. He just continue to wash the mug and place it on the rack before proceed to turn off the lights leaving only one orange dim light to illuminate the a small part of the hall. He then walk towards her, picked her up and said "Its getting late, lets go to bed". She let out a small 'mmm' of acknowledgement and let herself get carried.

.

.

.

The mixture sizzles as soon as she dropped them into the pan and quickly formed an oval-ish shape. The morning was colder than usual due to the rain that have not yet stopped since last night. The sound of water dropping outside was not as heavy but rather a calming and soothing one. She hummed a melody only can be heard by herself while waiting for the mixture to turn golden-ish before she started flipping them one by one.

"Hey, you're up early" said the voice of the man behind her.

"Oh hey, good morning," she greeted him without turning to look. "Just wait for a while, breakfast almost done. I already made your coffee, its on the counter over there."

"Thanks, babe!" he kissed her cheek before getting his coffee.

"So, how are you this morning? slept well last night?" he said sipping his coffee as he stood next to her.

"That's my line, how are YOU?" she smiled with her eyes glued to the pan. "I slept like a baby by the way. You're so warm and comfy."

"Heheh, me too. You're just soft and cuddly. Too bad its not the weekend yet," he smirked before taking another sip. "Else, we would be in bed cuddling all day in this fine weather."

"Just...cuddle?" she turned towards him for a moment and gave him the 'look' with that 'smile'.

"G-G-God damn it, Mia. D-don't tease me like that at time like this. You know damn well I can't resist you." He said with nervous giggle.

They both giggled and laughed at each other. They both knew this morning would not last forever. His busy days are about to start. As she mentioned last night, it is going to be hard to see him again from this day onwards. When the time comes, she will always try to make every second counts.

"Right, pancakes done! Time to eat!"

The two sat down at the table as they began to eat. Suddenly in the middle of the meal, out of the blue, "Say, Mia."

"Yeah?"

"You know, the other day, during break time. I had a conversation with a co-worker."

"Uh-huh"

"Have you ever thought, to be a full time nanny?"

"Eh?"

"Not babysitting, but be full time nanny, there's a difference."

Her head tilted while looking at him with a confused look, completely taken aback from the words coming out of his mouth this early in the morning.

"Hear me out," he said after noticing her puzzled face. "You see, this co-worker of mine, both him and his wife worked full time, office hours, yadda-yadda."

"So...?"

"Soooooo since neither of them able to care for their kids at home. And they often worked until night, they decided to hire a nanny. Full time, lived in, morning to night, Monday to Friday by the way. Guess how much do they have to pay for the nanny?

"Ummm....16....17 per hour???"

"Well uhh, yeah, that's kind of the average salary for a nanny, true."

"That's...not that much different than mine? I made around 16-ish per hour myself..."

"No no, theirs is 19 per hour."

"My point still stands..."

"Yeah but how much do you do babysitting per week? sometimes just 2-3 hours, sometimes just morning, sometimes just afternoon, and sometimes only 2-3 babysitting job per week, am I right?"

"Ah, I see, so its like a fully committed kind of babysitting, rather on being hired for just few hours at a time, being full time means you're getting paid everyday, day and night...just like working at offices."

"Yea yea yea, now you're getting it. So let's say your work starts early morning from 6 am preparing breakfast to 9 pm when the kids get to bed. That's 15 hours per day. Times 5 if you stay 5 days per week, that's 1,425 dollars per week. Not bad at all, eh?"

"Damn...but 15 hours though..."

"Its kind of like everyday chores, I think. Like what you've already been doing right now."

Her busy hands stopped moving as she averted her eyes away from him. "I...I'm really not sure about this. I only took on babysitting as nothing more but a part time all the while trying to get a my dream job...," She said with a sad tone. 

"Its just that...I'm worried about you." He said before placing his hand over hers. "You may look all cheery right now but I know you're just pretending and deep down you're hurting. Look, I'm not saying you should become a nanny, I'm just suggesting." She slowly turned her eyes to meet his. He then continued, "I had a college mate who took engineering class but in the end up opening a tailor shop instead and now, I think he's the most successful among our classmates."

"..."

"Besides, I know how much you like children. I've seen the way you interact and play with them, you're a natural, Mia. Kids likes you too. Every time we passed by or if the kids of this apartment saw us, they all greet and respect you and I saw how happy your face looked everytime."

"..."

It took a while before he finally realized her silence. Feeling bad he said, "Oh, I-I'm sorry, Mia. Maybe I shouldn't even bring that up. Forget about everything I just say, okay. I'm sorry. Come now, lets eat before it gets cold. I need to head out soon too."

"No, no, its okay, Ethan. You're not wrong and there are truth to what you just said," she said noticing how he retracted back. "I-I'll think about it. Thanks, baby." she said with a smile.

After finishing their meal, she went to the front door with him to send him off. They hugged and kissed as per their usual daily ritual but this time tighter and more passionate as if its their last. Over dramatic as if he is going to war and never to return, though only happened when busy days are coming. They both wanting this moment to never end but in nevertheless have to let go of each other. 

He held her hands and gave her another kiss on the cheek before saying "I don't know how late I'm gonna be so just go to bed if you're tired, okay? Don't stay up late waiting for me."

"Yeah, please take care at work too. Don't forget to eat lunch too. By the way, I put your lunch in your bag. You're welcome." She smiled and giggled.

"Oh, how thoughtful of you but you don't have to"

"No, I did it because I wanted to! I don't know why I never done this before but hey, its a start from today onward!"

He pinched her cheek a little, "Hey, stop making me fall in love with you even more damn it."

To which she replied with a smile, "I'll make you fall so deep you can't see the bottom of it."

"Well then, bye babe!" he said as his legs stepped out of the door.

"Byeeee~~ Take care, baby!"

As soon as the door closed. Her smile slowly disappeared. Slowly, she walked back to the kitchen, picked up the plates and cups and place them into the sink. She thought to herself, "Nanny, huh?" before washing the dishes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (please ignore this end note)
> 
> nothing to do with the story but just want to get this off my chest:
> 
> damn i must be like the one of the super minority who actually likes mia. and the fandom is super unforgiving to her at all. true, she worked with a shady company before but they all treat her like she's the one who create eveline and 100% at fault for everything. everyone seems to agree that she's evil and terrible human being whereas in the game she doesn't behave like one but rather tried her best to save the baker and later ethan. i also don't understand why everyone called her annoying when she really didn't, like what part of her is annoying? she's genuinely had an amnesia and only attacked ethan due to eveline's control and everyone seems to think she's just pretending even though the game itself shows she does not. Its like these guys don't even pay attention to the game they're playing. 
> 
> Also of course ethan going to pick mia over zoe. at that point in time Ethan(and the player on 1st time playing) didn't even know her true identity so why the hell does he choose a random stranger over his missing wife? and people justify because she lied. true. but that just shows how much these people care about the people close to them. you don't JUST pick some stranger if that other person is your S.O or person closest to you, lie or not. 
> 
> All in all, Mia at the end of the game said she wanted to start over but nope, the fandom doesn't give a shit. seems like nobody have a single mercy, there's just no 2nd chance for someone who wanted to change apparently. this the reason why even irl, those who released from prison that wanted to make a change went back to doing crime because community shunned them.
> 
> sorry that i use this space to rant. I just have no other place to let this all out. this is the only space where i can talk about this without everyone bombarding me about wanting mia to be developed to a better character


	5. Turn Back the Pendulum III

\----------------------  
December 2008  
\----------------------

"Mia, I'm out of office now and gonna go grab the thing I ordered from the shop. There's a supermarket nearby that shop though, you need anything?"

"Ah, right hang on, let's see...." holding her phone with one hand while the other opening cabinets, drawers, and fridges to look for things that might have ran out. "Right, I think we're good, we already bought all the things we need last weekend. So, I don't know, maybe something extra like ice cream? chocolates? up to you lol."

"Alright, but are you sure?"

"Yep, we're good. I made sure we had all the things already."

"Right, but are you sure?"

"Yes, I am sure."

"Okay, but are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Sure, but are you sure?"

"Oh, stop it you."

"Alright, but are you sure?"

"Suuuuuuuurrreeeee."

"..."

"..."

"But are you sure tho?" this time she can hear him laughing through the phone.

"Yes. I am sure. Love you! BYE!"

This is the first time she will celebrate Christmas alone with Ethan. Just the two of them. Not even with his side of family. They actually had planned to go to his hometown to celebrate but have to cancel it due to his work demanded him. Of course he hated it just as much if not more than her because he really looking forward to introduce her to his family but he have to comply in the end. However, that does not stop her from ensuring the annual end of year holiday to be the happiest moment of their lives yet. She has been looking forward to it since the last couple of months and she would not back down just. 

This year has been rough for her especially the last couple of months. Up until now, she barely see him aside from quick breakfasts and weekends. The weekends were not satisfying to her either as she sometimes had babysitting to do and Ethan would be catching his sleep throughout the morning and only have couple hours to spend with him in the afternoon and evening. She had everything planned for today and has been making sure that everything will go as plan. The house has been cleaned spotless since the last couple days. The decorations has been up since the month started and their small apartment has never been as lively as its ever been.

She wipes her hand after doing some dishes that would have been an eye sore should she left it alone. Its a small house after all and it would be stuck out in the background while celebrating Christmas later on. She took a step back to the living room area and watched her surrounding. The foods and drinks were ready. The decorative lights were turned on. The holiday tunes were playing through the speakers plugged into her laptop. Everything was set nicely just as planned.

Now that she finally not busy from doing anything, she finally began to notice that despite all the work she done today...the house is empty. She started to hear sounds from the neighbours beyond the walls. Sound of adults laughing as they made jokes, children screaming followed by laughter as they play with presumably new toys they just got. The more she listened, the lonelier she felt. It reminded her so much of her childhood when both her parents were still around. She could see her and her mother laughed as her dad made his usual dad jokes during the special feast. Looking at the food at the table with empty seats only made her sadder. Tears slowly ran down her cheeks unnoticed until she saw herself in the mirror.

"Stupid Mia, why are you crying all of a sudden. Stop it!" she told herself. "You're not alone, you have Ethan and once he's home you won't be lonely anymore."

Wiping her tears she continued, "Alright, now the only thing left, is me!"

So she quickly went to grab her towel and immediately get in the shower. In the shower, feeling relaxed and revitalized from the warm water, her mind wondered off into her happy place where Ethan is the only thing in her mind. Thinking of how surprise and happy Ethan would be when he gets home and how he will praise her.

"Ah, I need to hurry! He'll be home soon," she gets off the shower. "Can't let the man waiting!" She continued as she rushed to their room to get dress.

"MIAAAAAAAAAA, I'M HOOOOOOOOOOOOOMEEEE~~~~!!!!"

Hearing his voice, "Ah, shit! He's here already. Damn, I'm not ready yet." she said to herself.

"Baby!?" she raised her voice to answer his called from inside the room.

"Yeah?" his voice replied from outside.

"Can you wait for awhile? I'm getting ready right now! Help yourself but don't eat anything yet!"

"Okay~~"

"Eh, he can wait." she told herself.

After some time passed, she finally ready after satisfied with how her makeup turned out. And so she called out, "Baby?"

"Yeah?"

"You ready?"

"YEP!!"

She then went out of the room and strike a sexy pose. "Ta-daaaa~~!"

Looking at his face, she got exactly what she wanted. His eyes did not blink, his mouth was wide open and he stood completely static. As if he saw something so beautiful he cannot take his eyes off of it.

"Umm, Ethan? How do I look?" She said before she did a 360 degree turn around. "I'm not used to wearing fancy dress like this. It felt a bit too revealing."

"OH MY GOD, MIA!" he said as he walked towards her. "YOU LOOK ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS!"

Satisfied, she immediately went to hug and kiss him and said "Thanks, baby!".

Knowing her nerd of a boyfriend is completely stunned, its up to her to keep things going. She giggled seeing his reaction before she pulled him by the hand towards the dining table.

"Come on, lets eat first! I'm really hungry now!" 

"Y-Y-Yeah, me too!"

And so they had their dinner together. They talked about lots of things starting from her cooking, her preparation for Christmas to how they first met. She has never been this happy in her life. All the worries and sadness she had all year long was gone just by this spending time with him.

Once done with their feast, "Come on, lets go to the living room!" she urged him again by pulling his hand.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down babe!" he said as he got dragged along.

As he sat on the sofa, she went towards the small christmas tree decoration they had and picked up a box wrapped with red paper and white ribbon on top of it. She then hands over the box to him and said excitedly, "Open it!"

"Okay, here I go!" he said before opening the gift box.

"Wow, Mia!" he exclaimed as he saw the content of the box. The contents inside the box were a long sleeve white shirt with thin grey stripes and a pair of light grey khaki pants. "This is very nice! I haven't done any shopping for cloth for awhile, now I don't have to anymore. Thanks, Mia!"

"Hehe, I'm glad you like it! Originally I wanted to get you a Playstation 3! but you bought it last June so I had to think of something else. To be honest I'm really not sure what to get so I chose to go for some clothing instead!

"Haha, you could give me toilet papers and I'll still be happy!" he laughed before giving her a kiss.

"Now its my turn!" he said as he stood up and walk towards the laptop. He then changed the music from the jolly Christmas to a romantic love song. Satisfied with the change of mood he walked towards empty space in the house and pulling off his impression of a hero character from a certain video game, he gestured by moving his left hand towards his back and left leg backward, with a slight bow and bend of both knees, offering his right hands towards her, 

he said "Shall we dance?"

Smiling and excited seeing how dorky and cheesy he was, she got off the couch and stood in front of him and return his gesture by bowing and lifting her long skirt slightly and said, "Yes, we shall!". 

She then reached for his hand and their fingers interlace as their bodies move closer to each other. He placed his other hand on her waist while she placed hers on his shoulder. Their eyes met the entire time and they began swaying to and fro following the rhythm of the song.

After a few moments into the dance, He then spoke softly, "Mia."

"Yes, Ethan?"

"Umm...I, uhh..."

"Yes?"

"I...uhh..umm...I...uhhh..." he started mumbling and stuttering to himself.

"What is it, Ethan?" she asked softly.

"I-I-I-I..."

"You?"

"Ah, Fuck it!" he said it out loud "Mia, Marry me! FUCK! that turned out wrong!"

She gasped as their movement paused. Visibly shaking, he lets go of her and struggling clumsily to take out a small box from his right pocket. He then immediately bend his knee and open the box revealing a diamond ring.

"Ahem" he pretending to cough. "W-w-will you marry me, Mia?" he said it again this time with much more proper sentence.

This time she was the one who was stunned. Both her hands covering her mouth with eyes widened. Hyperventilating and feeling the butterfly in the stomach, her knees felt weak causing her to fall and sat on the floor. Her heart beat so fast she thought it might just explode. The world around her just stopped at this very moment. Nothing came out of her mouth except for a long high pitched squeal.

It was really awkward situation for him as he just stood there in position waiting for her to respond back.

"This is gonna take a while, huh"

And took a while it did. After a couple of minutes, finally comprehensible words came out of her mouth.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!" she said it repeatedly while short on breath. She kept repeating it over and over again as if those were the only words she knew.

"So uhh....What'll it be?" he asked nervously.

"YES! ALL OF MY YES! YES! YES!"

Hearing that he smiled and took her left hand from covering her mouth and slide the ring onto her ring finger. She was all giddy and cannot sit still when he did it. "Nice, it fit just nicely! I was afraid it was not goin-"

Before even finishing the sentence, she jumped at him and kissed him repeatedly, passionately and lustfully. There was no more holding back. Her brain have stopped thinking and she completely been taken over by her emotions and instinct. He was trying to resist her at first trying to calm her down but her continuous non-stop aggression got the better of him and in the end he too fall to his instinct and let the body to do the talking. With what brain thinking capacity he had left, he lift her up, rushed to the bedroom and throw themselves on the bed and hit the sheet.

The night was theirs and nobody can take it away from them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick Chapter!
> 
> The setting is finally set. It took awhile to build up and I hope you guys like it.
> 
> The next coming chapters will be the actual meat of the story you guys been waiting for. In the meantime, enjoy their last sweet moment together.


	6. The Wheel of Fate Began to Turn

\----------------------  
January 2009  
\----------------------

"Mia Winters, huh?" she talked to herself while walking between cabinets and shelves of goods in a supermarket. "Hehe, it fits me so much, as if it meant to be!" She continued while smiling and giggling like an idiot to herself.

The eventful night was still very fresh in her mind and like a broken record, the events kept playing on repeat. Every movement they made, every words they spoke, the tone and softness of his voice, his face expression, and most of all the most passionate love making session they ever had, she remembered it all. It was really embarrassing to her on the latter part as she never would have thought she would be that wild. Even he was surprised about it when they talked about it on the next day. As far as she remembered, she was not drunk that night. Anyhow, he was not complaining about it so its a win situation for her. Back to present day, she has been glancing at her ring every opportunity she gets while pushing the shopping cart. She knew that he would propose someday but she never would have thought it would be this early. All the more reason she needs to work harder to keep this marriage going.

Suddenly, she heard a loud scream "Help, thief!"

She immediately turned to the direction of the voice and saw a man running towards her direction while an elderly lady cried for help a bit further back. Hearing the cries of the victim, there were few men who tried to block and catch the thief but the thief manage to slip passed them. As the man came closer towards her, she stepped aside closer to the shelves just like anyone with a decent reflex would. However, her eyes were focused on something else. She readied herself as the thief was coming in closer and closer.

.  
.  
.

It happened so fast. The thief went passed her in just a mere second followed by the other men who were running after him moments after. The thief took a turn at the junction along with the chasers and went out of vision in the blink of the eye but the sound of pursuit can still be heard over the aisles. She stood there for a moment staring at the junction where the thief passed by to process what was going on. She then turned her trolley and walked towards the old lady who was helped by the other shoppers nearby.

"I'm fine, I'm okay, I'm not hurt. Thank you everyone." said the old lady thanking the people who were helping her.

"What happened?"   
"A thief stole this poor lady's purse"  
"Fortunately the lady's fine" 

said the bystanders among themselves.

As the crowd began to disperse and the old lady about to go to do a police report, Mia reached the old lady and called out. "Umm hey, miss!" to which caught the elderly woman and remaining crowd's attention.

"Is this yours?" she said while handing over what seems to be a pink leathered purse.

"Why, yes! That is definitely my purse!" Cried the old lady happily. "How did you manage to get it?"

"Umm when the thief passed by me, he kinda dropped the purse while he's running. I simply picked it up." she explained.

"Oh thank you so so much, young lady. How can I ever repay you?" said the old lady while shaking both of her hands.

"No, no. It's okay. I didn't do anything. Like I said, I simply picked it up." said Mia.

"Thank god, you're okay too lady. They went by right passed you. Could have been worse if they hit you." Said a bystander.

"Yeah, yeah. Thank goodness." she replied.

"Anyhow, I'm going to escort this lady here to make a police report? You wanna come along?" he said.

"No, no. It's okay. I have places to be. Sorry." She then turned to the lady. "Take care, okay. Goodbye."

After that, they all went separate ways but as soon as Mia turned around, she saw a woman standing in front of her blocking her path. She had purple hair, wore a purple dress with fur scarf around her neck and a pair of purple high heels. The woman also sports a golden bangle and multiple rings on her fingers each with different shapes and sizes and to top it off, she wore sunglasses. She also noticed that there were two men wearing black suits also with sunglasses who seems to be equipped with guns and radio piece. Must have been this woman's bodyguard she thought. "What a bunch of weirdos" was the only think she could think of at this moment.

"Well, well. Look who we have here" said the woman.

Mia stopped and look around her with visible confusion. There were nobody around except for her, the women and her men.

"Yes, I'm talking to you, lady." She sound annoyed.

Mia looked back at the woman still puzzled, "....Can I help you?"

"I overheard your conversation earlier. "Picked up" the purse, you say? Quite the poor acting you got there."

"..."

"You may fool them but I saw what you pulled off back there," She said as she crossed her arms. "It was nothing short of nimble and great dexterity. Only you could pull that off unnoticed."

Mia frowned hearing the words coming out of the woman's mouth and without her noticing, she gritted her teeth and her hands squeezed the shopping cart handle hard as her body became tense. The woman smirked widely as she saw her face expression changed, happy knowing she was right about the seemingly innocent woman in front of her.

"Who are you? What do you want with me?" Mia said calmly but with hostility in her voice.

"Heheh, you look so much different now since I last saw you, but that glare of yours, that remains the same." She said before taking off her sunglasses. "Its really been awhile, huh Shade? or should I call you, Mia."

Her eyes completely widened as she completely taken aback. After the glasses were off, now the woman's face began to look so familiar to her. She started digging deep into her deepest memories of a time she does not want to remember, a period of time she wanted to forget. It was a period of time where Mia at her lowest point. She swore to herself to never speak of this period of her life to anybody, not even Ethan. These memories will forever be her darkest secret and it will die together with her.

She observed her surroundings once more, making sure nobody were around to hear their conversation. Satisfied, she turned her attention towards the woman and said coldly, "I thought told you before to never call me Shade."

"Now, now, don't glare at me like that. Can't you at least greet me proper? Its really been a long time, you know! I thought you would be happy to see me. I'm your only BFF, remember?" She laughed as she started to walk towards Mia. "Besides, only a handful of people knew the name Shade anyway and its been so long nobody would even remember. Even if I said it now, people would just think its some sort of edgy teenagers nickname. When you think about it now, it does sound so silly." She continued with a giggle.

Mia closes her eyes for awhile and let out a sigh. Once her body felt relaxed, she said "Regardless, I hate it. Just don't call me that ever again, you hear?" The woman already stood only about a foot in front of her with a big grin on her face. "Its really has been a long time, Amelia" she said with a smile towards the woman. After a moment of pause, the two woman began to hug each other screaming each others name while going in circle.

"You changed so much I can't even recognize you anymore! What's up with all the purple!? What are you, Barney!?"

"What about you!? You look so gorgeous now! Last time I saw you, you look like some edgy punk!"

The two continued to exchange shade and snarky comments about each other for awhile. Once they were done, Amelia said "We need to celebrate this! Come on, follow me! Lets go to my private suite. I have all the high class wines saved for such occasion!"

"P-private suite?" Mia said curiously as if she did not notice that the woman in front of her is not some kind of rich person based on what she wear. "How did you get so rich? What did you do for a living that you can afford all this?"

"Hehehe, I'll tell you once we get there. Now hurry up, lets go! We can't waste our time here in this place so we can spend more time drinking!" Amelia said ignoring Mia's question.

"Umm, right now?" Mia said with worried tone. "I don't want to be a party pooper but I'm only here to shop for groceries. After that I need to go back home and cook..."

"HAH you don't need to cook today! I can just have my chefs to cook dinner and we can feast together. Here, I'll pay for all your groceries too!"

"Wait, what?"

"Boys, escort this friend of mine here on her shopping and pay for whatever she buy!" she commanded the two guards behind her. She then turned to Mia and said, "I'll be waiting for you at my limo, make haste! I don't want to waste any time for us to celebrate."

"No, wait please! I have to get back home early-"

Noticing the diamond ring on one of Mia's finger, she continued to grin widely and interrupt her mid sentence, "Ahh, I see now! Fine, then I'll just have my chefs to cook extra portion so you can just bring them home to that special someone. In return I want you to tell me all about this special person of yours." Noticing Mia's expression she laughed and continued, "Well we don't have all day now do we? You will come with me and I won't take no for an answer. Don't worry, the suite isn't far from here. Once we're done catching up, I'll give you ride home."

She then began walking away from Mia who was completely dumbfounded with the two men in suits. As she walked away, two more men in suits rushed to her and escort her until she went out of sight.

"...I guess I have no other choice, huh? Bossy as always..." She murmured to herself. She then turned and look awkwardly at the two men who have been standing still and completely silent next to her. 

"Umm, I need to get a few more items..."

"..." "..."

"R-right, lets...go?"

"..." "..."

It was so awkward and uncomfortable for Mia as she continued her shopping with two men in suits following her around. The other shoppers were all eyeing her as she stood out so much in between the crowd like some sort of famous celebrity.

.

.

.

"Welcome to my private suite! Make yourself at home!" Amelia said excitedly as she pushed open the double door revealing a spacious room filled with luxuries only the rich can enjoy. 

From the sofas, the wooden table and cabinets, the carpets, the painting, the TV set and all sorts of decoration in this room, everything here are of the utmost quality. As if not enough reminder of how expensive this place was, the large chandelier above emitting golden orange light illuminating the room further symbolized prestige, wealth and quality. There were also a mini bar on the side with a shelves full of branded high quality bottles of drinks. There was also a swimming pool that can be seen further across the room on the balcony outside.

Mia was completely in awed as she stepped into the suite. This was the first time she ever laid her eyes as well as going into such a place. Compared to Ethan's apartment, this was three, no four times bigger and this was just the living room. As she comes by the sofa, she placed her hand on the fabric only to feel such comfort of she never felt before. For someone who came from a poor family, it felt surreal to her that this kind of place exist. She then turned around to Amelia only to see her shit-eating grin at her reaction.

"So what do you think?" Amelia asked.

"This place is amazing! How on earth did you manage to own such a place?"

"Haha, before that, have a seat first," she gestured Mia towards the sofa. She then snapped her finger and said "Bring us the drinks!". Immediately after her orders, the bartender proceed to prepare the drinks behind the bar.

Mia sat awkwardly on the sofa while Amelia sat across her with legs crossed and arms opened wide. Just a moment after they took a seat, the maid came in with the wine glasses and the drinks and pour it in front of them.

"This," Amelia raised her glass filled with wine, "is Bodega Catena Zapata made by Adrianna Vineyard, only the finest wine money can buy. Only such a thing is appropriate for our fateful reunion! Cheers!"

"C-Cheers!" Mia answered her called by raising her glass as well. _Clink_ , the sound the glasses made as they collide with each other. Both of them then took a sip out of their wines.

"A-amazing! Wow! I never taste such a rich flavour..." Mia said completely awestruck by the taste of this heavenly drink. It cannot be compared to any of the wine she had in her life. The difference was like a day and night. Completely on different league.

"HAHAHAHAHA, enjoy, Mia! Enjoy it to your heart's content!" Amelia exclaimed as she laughed loudly.

The two enjoyed the moment for awhile exchanging small talks about the wine, the car and the place itself. It does not take long until Mia finally asked again the question

"Okay now, seriously, how did you manage to afford all this? What did you do for a living?"

Amelia finishes her glass first before saying in a monotonous tone, "The same thing we did years ago, except now on a much larger scale."

Mia's face turned serious, "I...I see"

"Hmph, what's with that look? Are you judging me now? What, you're a goody two shoes now? Back then you're one of the if not the most cunning among us. You could have seriously made a lot more but you just chose not to! Such a waste of opportunity."

"That was a long time ago..." Mia leaned back on the sofa and averted her eyes sideways, "That is true, I could have made far more than I have back then but I just hated being in the limelight."

"Oh?"

"I just don't like to stand out, you know. Being the best means you'll be in everyone's radar meaning everyone will go to you, attracting unwanted attentions. I hated that. So for my own safety, I purposely toned down my activities and numbers of clients so nobody would really target me."

"Hmph, smart! I guess that's why barely anybody knows you." Amelia slowly took out a pack of cigarette from her pocket. She took one for herself and offered Mia to which she declined. "No thanks, you know I don't smoke."

"Right," She pulled back the offer and place it on the coffee table. She then pull a fancy lighter from her purse and lit up her, "I hope you don't mind."

"No, not at all," Mia said nonchalantly. "Its your place after all."

Amelia then inhale the smoke deep before letting out a puff upwards. Neither exchange words for a while. Calm winds blows from the balcony through the sliding doors blows off the smoke away. Both their hairs fluttered, following the direction of the wind and slowly return to their initial position as the wind died down. Mia continued to take another sip while Amelia enjoys her smoke. After a moment of silence,

"By the way," Mia said curiously gaining Amelia's attention, "I heard the whole gang got caught when the raid happened, the place got completely shut down after that. Can you tell me what happened back then?"

Amelia gave Mia a stern look before replying "Apparently, a "friend" of ours got caught while dealing with his client. Turns out his client was a detective in disguise. So the police interrogate and question him to which he spilled the beans and that's how the police knew about the hideout and all our members, activities and dealings. As if the stars were aligned for them It just so happened that a week before he got caught, the boss have called in everyone for a large meeting disguised as Halloween party. So yea, then they of course have planned to raid when we were all gathered there that night."

"I see..."

"Come to think of it, I didn't see you at all that night. Where were you? You were always with me every time we went there."

"I already quit a long time ago before the raid happened."

"Wait, what!? You quit!? How can you just quit? Why didn't you tell me!?"

"I never liked doing all these...crimes in the first place. I have always wanted to quit for a long time. I was just waiting for a push. A reason to quit."

"But you were so good at what you do! Just look at how you stole that purse from the thief in the mall just now. Nobody can pull that off in such a short moment. I know this because you once showed me how you did it years ago!"

"Just because I'm good at it, doesn't mean I like doing it. In fact, looking back, I hated myself so much for getting involved in the first place. Which is why I wanted to forget it all."

"Oh yeah, what's the reason then?"

"Love."

"...Love?"

"Yeah, love."

"Are you fucking kidding me!?"

"No, not at all. You see, one day while I was outside taking a walk alone, I saw a family. A father, a mother and their child who was like 7 years old or so at the park nearby. Their smiles, their laughed and genuine happiness....made me jealous. It reminded me of my late dad. If he was still alive, I would have never been in a gang in the first place, living a happy normal life."

"Family, huh?"

"After that I can't stop thinking about it. When I got home, I took a good look at myself in the mirror. All I see was a depressed and miserable self. I tried to recall any good memories that I had ever since dad died but all that I can ever remember was nothing but sadness. Our lives came spiraling down. I became distant from my mom, we hardly even talked. Despite her working for three jobs, we barely had food everyday. From there I started to learn how to steal food from the market and became good at it, I never got caught, and before long, I met you and we joined the gang together."

"I see..."

"I've been stealing, sabotaging, selling drugs, blackmailing countless times... and all I get was nothing but emptiness and hatred. It also made me think, about my mom who was the only family I had back then. What if I got into trouble with rival gang members? She might become a target. Losing my dad was painful enough, I can't afford to lose my mom too. Sure, I made a lot of money despite not try harding so much, but to me, to risk my only family I had left. Its just not worth it. So I quit."

Amelia let out a big sigh, "I guess we have different opinion on that one. You're quite the naive one, Mia." Raising both of her hands, "Look around you! Can't you see all this? These are all the things I own with the money I made. Money can't buy happiness, you say? I am able to eat all these fancy food, drink all these fancy drinks, I have maids and butlers to do all my biddings, I have a limousine complete with a personal driver to drive me to where ever and when ever I want! If I'm feeling lonely, I can hire plenty of escorts to have sex anytime I want. All this is because of money! In this world, money talks! Without money, you're nothing. With or without family." 

"Heh," Mia chuckled, "Let's agree to disagree but I respect your opinion so lets leave it at that. I don't feel like arguing"

"Hmph! Likewise, I respect yours too. I agree, lets not argue. Here, have more of these wines!" She laughed and pour more wine into both of their glasses. They both then cheered and drink in unison.

"You know, you should really be thankful to me," Amelia said while pouring another glass of wine. She then took a sip before she continued, "The police went through the whole member list, the name Shade was still there despite you quitting but nobody actually really knows. Some of the members told them that only I was the only one who close to Shade and so the police questioned and beat the shit out of me. But guess what?"

"They what!?" Mia replied in shocked.

"I never once rat you out." She said before drinking the whole glass with one go, "I simply told them I don't really know Shade's real identity. I said Shade always been so careful with its identity, its a mystery to everyone even myself."

"Amy...You really took beatings for me?" Mia gasped and stood in reaction to her words.

"Yeah, you're my only BFF, Mia! I would never let anyone hurt you." she said with sad tone. Her eyes already watery and slowly tears came down her cheeks.

"Oh my god, Amy! I...I didn't know! I'm so so sorry!" Mia immediately went to her side and hugged her tightly. "I'm so sorry, Amy!" as she also began to shed tears.

"No, its okay, Mia. Back then, nobody cares about me. The adults called me a problem kid and they all shunned me until you came along. Despite what people say about you, you were the only one who stood up, understood me and genuinely care for me. The least I could do to pay you back is to not let you get caught."

"Still, taking beatings...it must have been very painful. I hope they don't break anything. Glad you turned out okay."

"Heh, well no. Not really, I had couple of scars on my back, arms and legs. Its a good thing we were teenagers under 18 at the time, my beatings were pretty mild compared to the adults." Amelia managed to smirk despite just crying earlier. She then raised her skirt to reveal to Mia her scars.

"Damn..." those are the only words that escaped Mia's mouth after seeing multiple brown-ish lines on her thighs.

"Anyway, enough about me, what about you? What have you been doing since I last saw you?" she said after she pulled down her skirt.

"Oh, well you see, the money I made while I'm still active, I used them to buy books."

"Books?"

"Yeah, specifically biology books. I have always dreamed to be researcher ever since I was little. So I bought the books and study them religiously. These books were quite expensive but they all cost next to nothing compared to the money I made selling drugs in the black market."

"I see, so I take it you further your study and enter some science college?"

Mia nodded.

"Ahh, you should be already graduated right? You're a legit researcher now?"

Mia's face expression turned gloomy. She then shook her head. "No, not yet, I...am having a hard time looking for a job. Its already been a full year since I graduated and I still can't land any job despite the amount of interviews I went. I don't understand why I never been chosen despite how hard I tried. Its just feel not fair for the amount of effort I put in."

"Sorry to hear that..." Amelia averted her eyes downward and a saw a sparkle of light reflected from the direction of Mia's hand. "But, it wasn't all that bad right? I mean look at that ring you got there? You're married!"

"Ah yeah, I forgot to tell you, I just got engaged! We haven't even planned the date for the wedding day yet though."

"Oooh tell me, tell me! What kind of person is he? What's he like? Is he handsome? He's definitely rich isn't he? Heheheh, you sly fox, you always find a way out somehow. Whoever this man is, he must be some rich dude that someone like you actually want to marry him!"

"Ahaha...about that..." Mia laughed reluctantly. "Well you're right on one thing, he is definitely a cutie! I can stare at him all day! Also he is also very kind, caring and loving! Everytime he talks, I swear if I could literally melt I would have hundred times over!"

"Wow, do you have his picture? Show me! Show me!"

"Ah, I'm afraid I can't, my phone is just a Nokia 3310. It doesn't even have a built-in camera, unfortunately..."

"Too bad, but one of these days, you should really let me meet him! I'm super curious on how he looks!"

"I will! You will be surprise on how handsome he is!"

"Anyway, what did he do for a living? A CEO to a rich company?"

"Uhh...umm...well he's a....software engineer."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Don't you dare look down on him!"

"I am silently judging you..."

"..."

"Good heavens, your taste in men is so awful, I can't even. Now, I don't even want to see his face, he's probably as ugly as his job."

"Hey, fuck you! Nobody talk shit about my man! Ethan is super fucking handsome and he have the heart of gold! I am super lucky to have him chose me!"

"Sure, sure. Whatever you say, Mia."

"FUCK YOU!"

.

.

.

The sun has almost set as the sky was painted orange. There were plenty of cars on the road as people are now coming back home from their long day of work. The black limousine stood out like a sore eye among the other vehicles on the road mostly due to the massive difference of the engineering of the rich and poor. In the car, both Mia and Amelia were having small talk regarding the town. Until at one point Amelia pull a card out from a compartment of the limousine and hand it over to Mia. 

"Before we part, here, take this." She said in a serious tone.

"What's this?" Mia took the card and read the largest font written on it, "Tentsu?"

"Okay, Mia, I know I can trust you so listen closely." She waited until Mia gave her full attention before she continue, "Do you know what Tentsu is?"

Seeing how serious Amelia looked right now, Mia's expression immediately mirrored hers, "Only one of the biggest leader in biotechnology."

"You said, you have been having trouble on landing a job, yes? Well you can try apply here. I myself is actually a high ranking officer working on one of the latest state of the art biotechnology project. You can send in your resume to me and I can help forward and recommend you to the team."

"..."

"Hmm? Something the matter?"

"I remember you said that you did the same thing we did years ago, except now on a larger scale. It can't just be a normal biotechnology company now can it?"

"Sharp as always, and you're absolutely correct. It is on far far larger scale. Its the making and trading of bio-organic weapon, B.O.W in short."

"I knew it. The name Tentsu sounds familiar to begin with. No, I'm pretty sure I saw its name in the black market years ago."

"I have been living this life for years, Mia. Far more than you ever had. After I got out of the prison, I was recruited by some of the members that weren't caught during the raid. Seems like Tentsu provide them safety from the police and in return they have to work for them. Seeing this opportunity right before me, how can I passed it so I gladly joined them. My life have change for the better ever since. I worked my ass off to get into the position I'm in right now. This is my life! I have all the things I wanted in life. I can't stop and won't stop doing it until I retire."

"You're crazy..."

"Maybe. What are you gonna do about it?"

"As your friend, I'm willing to turn a blind eye on this one. But let me be clear, I want nothing to do out of this business of yours."

"Heh, I know. I'm not going to force to join me but the chances of you joining are never zero. Never hurt to try, heheh."

"So why are you giving me this then? I told you I don't want to be a part of the Underworld anymore."

"Well, you never know. Maybe one day you change your mind or somehow you need my help in the near future. If its you, I am always available. Just give me a holler and I'll help you in anyway I can."

"...Gee, thanks, Amy. Sorry if I sounded rude. You were just trying to help..."

"Nah, its okay. I understand your concern. Just let me tell you this, B.O.W business is far far more dangerous than anything you ever faced before. This is a very dangerous game to play so for someone who was out of the scene for so long. I really won't recommend. Especially now that you're getting married, you're better off the way you are."

"I see...thanks, Amy. I don't see myself joining you ever but sure, I'll keep that in mind" Mia said before she placed the card inside her purse.

"You're welcome" as soon as she said that, the vehicle stopped near an old apartment.

"We're here" said the driver. Both woman looked outside the window and Mia confirmed that this is her apartment.

"You actually live here? oh my god, Mia, I'm so sorry."

"Oh boo hoo!" Mia gestured a crying expression with sarcastic annoyed tone.

"Haha, sorry sorry. Its just fun teasing you! Besides its not everyday that I can actually meet you, its been years!" she laughed.

"Why do I feel like you're not sincere at all..."

"No, really, I mean it!"

"...Sure."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus:
> 
> In present time.
> 
> Ethan: LMAO WTF IS SHADE HAHAHAHAHA
> 
> Mia: S-Shut up! I'm not the one who come up with that. She's the one who suddenly gave me that stupid nickname!
> 
> Ethan: What even is Shade anyway? If they at least call you 'Shadow' it would have sound a lot cooler and edgier but noooo, it just had to be 'Shade', a discount version of 'Shadow'. It just sounds so fucking dumb HAHAHAHA
> 
> Mia: *screaming internally* FUCK YOU AMY


	7. Chapter 7: Winds from the past

\----------------------  
February 2009  
\----------------------

"Happy birthday, my little angel!" said the man. However, the man's face could not be seen as dark shadows covered most of his facial feature. "Here's your present!" the man added

"Yay present! Thanks daddy!"

"Go ahead, open it!"

The girl immediately teared open the gift wrap revealing a book titled "Animal Encyclopedia" with a large picture of a tiger as its main cover.

"WOOOOOW a tiger!"

"Not just tigers but there all kinds of animals in this book too. I really hope you like it." said the man with a smile.

"Of course I do daddy! Thank you soooooo much!" she said excitedly and give him a kiss on the cheek. She then opened up random pages from the book and show it to the man "You're right! So many animals!"

The man just chuckled and smile from ear to ear seeing how much the little girl loves his gift. As the girl still excitedly going from pages to pages, the man looked at the woman approximately his age next to him. The woman too had her face covered in shadow but a smile can be seen on her face. He then turned his attention back to the little girl and called her out.

"Say, sweetie."

"Yes, daddy?

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

She then stopped what she was doing and think hard as if she was answering a difficult question known to man. After a moment, the girl just look at the man and said while shrugging, "I don't know...."

Her innocent answer made the man to laugh out loud. The girl and the woman both laughed together with him. A genuine laughter of happiness in their small living room. "Now its my turn" said the woman.

The woman then gave the little girl a teddy bear that appears to be holding an envelope. "Wow another teddy bear!" The girl said out loud. The woman smiled and said, "Look at the teddy bear, what is he holding?"

"A letter?" the girl asked with puzzled look.

"Well why don't you open it?" the woman suggested to her.

"Okay" she said before she opened up the envelope and took out a small piece of paper.

"What does it say?"

"Big.....Si....sister? Big sister?", The girl read as she reads the letter. It took a while for her to process what she just read. While both the man and woman just smiled waiting for her reaction.

"WAIT, BIG SISTER!?" She exclaimed excitedly "I'm GOING TO BE A BIG SISTER!?"

"Yes, sweetie, I'm pregnant!" the woman said while pointing to her bulging belly.

"OH MY GAAAAAWD!" she screamed and hug the woman as she place her head on her belly. "I'M GOING TO HAVE A....HAVE A...? Is it a boy or a girl?"

The woman just smiled and pressed her finger on her lips and said, "Its a secret!"

Suddenly everything turned dark, pitch black darkness. Then a loud sound breaking the silence. _Krooohhhh Krooohhhh_. She opened her eyes immediately only to see a familiar dark room. It was not all dark dark as there were small amount of lights that manage to penetrate through the curtains over the window. _Krooohhhh Krooohhhh_. The sound continued in the same rhythm right behind her.

"Oh, its just Ethan..." she thought to herself. "What time did he got home?" she wondered but ultimately smile in relief that he came back home to her safe and sound. She carefully moved his hand that he wrapped around her to try not to wake him up. He was after all have been coming home late ever since months ago. He needs all the sleep he could get. She sat upright at the bedside and looked at him as he was completely out and could not help but feel sorry for her man who have been working hard to support them both.

She then look at the clock on the bedside table. "3 a.m..." she murmured to herself. Quietly she went out of the room and went straight to the kitchen not bothering to turn on any lights. She opened the fridge and took out a milk carton and pour them on the glass she took from the rack. She then sat at the dining table and just sat there and stare at the milk glass. The night was quiet. Barely any sound can be heard from the building. 

Its been a month since she met her old friend, Amelia. Having learned about what she has been up to, Mia could not stop thinking about the past. Just not too long ago, she was obsessed thinking about her upcoming wedding but the reunion completely changed all that. She started to dream about her past ever since and it occurred more frequently as days passed by. It feels as if her box of suppressed memories was forced opened and spilled out all of its content.

Slowly, her surrounding slowly changed into a white room. There was the man who was laying down on a bed lifelessly. There were a handful of people in the room mostly wearing the same blue uniforms, a woman with white coat and lastly the little girl with her mother and some other people who seems to be related to them.

"Mommy, why is daddy sleeping here? Why he didn't come home to sleep?"  
"Daddy, wake up! stop being lazy during the day!"  
"Daddy! Daddy! Come on! Stop sleeping already! Lets go home and read books about animals together!"

"Sweetie, please quiet down. Daddy is just tired, please let him rest. Come here to mommy." Said the woman with tears flowing freely from her eyes.

The little girl quietly went to her mother and she hugged her as tight as she can. The girl did not understand why everyone in the room was sad. Nobody were smiling and most of them were crying. Seeing her mother sobbing uncontrollably, the girl too began to shed tears unknowingly. She did not understand what was happening but she felt pain in her chest as if something or rather someone important has been taken away from her.

Suddenly the scene changes to what seems to be an open field. There were white stones everywhere on the ground laid out uniformly as if marking for something. Dozens of them and each of the stones were inscribed with words, names to be exact. There is one particular stone however, have a large hole on the ground in front of it whereby a large group of people gathered.

"Mommy, why did they put daddy inside the box?" the girl asked as she saw the box where the man resides was carried by men towards the hole. Some of the men then went inside the hole and they started to lower the box into it. Once the box was safely placed and the men have gotten out of the hole. They began to take their shovels and started to throw the dirt onto it.

"Mommy, what are they doing? Daddy is sleeping inside that box and they just throw dirt at him!? WHY!?" cried the little girl. But nobody listened to her and the men kept on continuing what they were doing. Angry for being ignored and treating her father that way, the girl tried to rush towards the men,

"STOOO-" screams the girl.

"Enough, Mia!" her mother pulled her back and hugged her. "Please...let daddy sleep." she begged her to stop.

"...Daddy..." weeped the little girl quietly as she slowly turned her head to look at her father's coffin for one last time.

_Woof Woof_. Sound of a dog barking in the distance snapped her back to reality. The glass of milk still remains the same as when she poured it moments ago. _Tick Tock_. She could hear the clock on the wall ticking faintly in a steady rhythm now that she started to pay attention to her surroundings. Letting out a sigh, she then finishes her drink and immediately got up to wash the glass only to be interrupted by her own sudden sobbing.

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" a familiar voice echoed inside her head.

"I...want... to be a researcher...," She replied to the voice in between her sobbing.

Why? Why does she wanted to be a researcher in the first place? Despite the amount of effort she put, she kept failing. She remembered Ethan's word for word regarding one of his friend who became successful doing something completely different from what he studied. Indeed, it is true. Some people have different calling. Perhaps maybe becoming a nanny is her true calling rather than being a researcher. She does love working with children and forming relationship with them are natural to her after all. So why does she kept on insisting to be a researcher then?. The answer was simple but rather a bit too ambitious. To find a cure for cancer and all other incurable illnesses. Losing her loved ones was painful. She does not wish anybody else to undergo the same fate as she does.

"One...that you can...be proud of..." she continued before she broke down at the kitchen sink.

.

.

.

"HUUAAAAAAARRGGHHHH"

"Oh hey, morning baby! had a good sleep?" she asked him without turning around as she was busy cooking breakfast.

"Not so much...I really needed more sleep." he said before letting out another big yawn.

"What time did you got home last night?"

"Almost 2, I think." he sat at the dining table. "I got home, brush my teeth, change my cloth, jump to bed and completely out."

She paused for awhile before continuing the conversation, "You know, why don't you take some days off? Valentine's day is coming soon, I thought maybe we can spend time together. We could go out for some outing or we could stay in bed for the whole day, lazying around. You know, take the stress off and relax. I don't think I ever see you touch the PS3 for a long time now."

"Wish I can, as much as I wanted to. I'm the only one who actually doing the work. A team? More like its just me." he said before letting out a sigh and yawned again.

Serving him the plate of breakfast, she asked "Well why don't you ask the boss to hire more people? You know, someone who actually competent and qualified for the job?"

"I did! I did ask the boss months ago! We just hired a new guy earlier this month, he's okay but he's a fresh grad and still need some babysitting but at least I can give him some tasks. Its the others so called "seniors" are the ones pissing me off!"

She sat on the chair opposite of him, and lean her head on her hand which she placed on the table. She observed him as he ate his breakfast. He has bags under his eyes and his hair looked quite messy. Did he even forgot to comb his hair? He looked so miserable and stressed out. She hated it and cannot stand seeing him like this. She wish she could just ask him to quit but she could not. Its not like she have not brought this up long time ago and the answers will always be the same, debts and rent. Bringing up more would just be annoying to the both of them especially him since he is the one who suffered more than her. She felt so sorry for him and angry at herself for not being able to help him in his time of need. All she can contribute now was to keep the house clean, cook him food and treat him nicely when he got back home.

Ethan got up and place the plate inside the sink. "Well, I gotta go now." he said monotonously as he grab his bag.

"Oh, already?" she said as she got up in respond and followed him to the front door as always.

They exchanged kissed and goodbyes as usual before he left in a hurry. She slowly went out of the house and lean on the corridor just to see him rushing out from the lift to where his car was parked. She continued to observed him until he droves off out of the main entrance and out of vision. She stood there for awhile taking in the fresh early morning air to recompose herself. In that time, she began to question herself, "Is this really the right choice? Is this really the way she wanted to live?" and suddenly the last question shook her, "was Amelia right and was she wrong?"

She got back inside to finish the house chores however, she was drifting in her thoughts as she was doing them. 

"Is it really worth living like this?"

Work, work, work, work. Its all that he has been doing. To get money in order to pay rent and debts and have food on the table. Barely have time for himself or his family. Rinse and repeat until retire. And when does he retire? In his 60s of course which is when he will be way after his prime. That is not living. That is just surviving. Just like a robot, to do task after task and when the time comes, it will shutdown, forever. Unlike a robot, you can replace the hardware and it can continue working. But what of human being? You can transplant some organ with new ones but at the end of the day, the body will still cease to function and there is nothing you can do about it.

"Is it really all about the money in the end?"

After all, the reason he went out to work is to find money. In the end, everyone was slave to the system. Without money, one can barely survive living in this modern world unless they wanted to live like a hermit in a deep forest far from civilization. If that is what one wants then sure, go ahead, nobody can stop them. But not everyone wants to live in those kind of condition. Majority of people like both Ethan and her just wanted to live a normal life without sacrificing everything just to survive. It somehow pisses her off how hardworking people like Ethan who does honest work had to live like this while some who just abuse the system and criminals are able to obtain wealth and enjoys life so easily.

"Was true love and family really worth living like this?"

She cannot believe she asking herself that question when she herself has said it confidently to Amelia the opposite. If she continue to commit in the underworld, no doubt her life could have been a lot better. There was never a worry about basic needs such as food or shelter. But can you really live in peace? After all, you yourself knew you are a wanted criminal. Every time you commit a crime, there are always chances something goes wrong in your plan and you will be exposed and get caught. After that, your whole world will go crumbling down leaving you with nothing left. Just take a look at the so called giant named Umbrella Corp. They were once the biggest pharmaceutical company around bar none. Nobody can touch them even the government because they can just bribe them all with all their wealth. Look at what happened to them now once their B.O.W researches were exposed. Gone. Bankrupt. Lots of their executives has been locked behind bars never to see the world ever again. Furthermore, there were also risks of being targeted by rival crime syndicates. Amelia herself was always surrounded by her bodyguards wherever she went. Despite all of that, a professional hitman or a proper planned assassination can easily kill her off in the blink of an eye.

On the other hand, being loved and taken care by loved ones is easily one of the best thing she ever experienced. She fell head over heels on Ethan as he was the kindest and loving man she ever met. He meant the world to her and she would not trade him for anything else. The issue of basic needs can be overcome just by her getting a job. If she does land a job, Ethan can find someplace better and then their lives should be able to go back to normal or perhaps even better.

She smiled as she justifies her own philosophy to eliminate her own self doubt she had. What was she thinking to even consider going back to doing crime after she had long abandoned them. "It all depends on me." She said to herself out loud to further solidifies her resolved of doing the right thing. That is right, she can obtain happiness by doing honest work just like her partner does. Then they can live happily ever after.

After she finishes cleaning the house that morning, she opened her laptop to do a research regarding one special subject that has been in her mind ever since. Being curious is what made a researcher a successful researcher. After all, there is a saying science is curiosity. Curiosity and the ability to keep questioning why to the world is the reason how science have able to progress the world to what it is today. As a would be researcher, Mia is no exception to this law. Her curiosity of B.O.W began after she was introduced by Amelia. With Ethan not around and nobody else to stop her, she have been looking up B.O.Ws on the internet any chance she get. In fact, she have been going to the library for awhile now in order to read records and stories behind it. What she interested the most was, how was it made? What are their characteristics? What are their specialties? What are the thoughts behind it? So on and so forth. However, topics of B.O.Ws are not something the government would just open to the public. All she could find were mostly records of B.O.Ws attack and conspiracy theories regarding them. Only few of them are about the mutation that occurred in the human body should one gets infected for example the T-virus from the Raccoon City outbreak a decade ago. She would spend hours surfing the internet for anything she could find.

It is safe to say, she was completely fascinated by the science behind the creation of B.O.Ws. It might have been immoral to even create these much less harm the people. But she have to give the credit where its due. It takes a genius to design and engineer such a thing that able to modify human or any organism at cellular level and changes it into something...different. An example of this is from one of the conspiracy theory she read on the internet, regarding a being called Tyrant. It is said the Tyrant is a hulking mass of muscle at 2 meters tall. Conventional weapon barely work against it and it just crush everything its way. The scary thing about this Tyrant is that they were capable of following complex orders. Imagine that, being able to control a biological life form like a robot. It is rumored that one of them appeared during the Raccoon City incident, killing off survivors or something like that. Of course she took it with a grain of salt, its the internet after all and she cannot take it all seriously but still, it is terrifying to think about. Which begs the question, if they can engineer such a thing, then why are a reliable cure for cancer still does not exist? It baffles her to no end that weaponize bio organism is more advanced than the medical field.

"If only these people use their talents and use it for the good of mankind..."

"If only someone would find a way to get their hands on this technology and use it for good instead..."

"Mom and dad... would still be alive," unknowingly her hands already balled into a fist and she gritted her teeth, "Mom wouldn't have miscarried and I would have led a better life..."

"..."

"For fuck sake, Mia. Just listen to yourself right now." she scold herself out loud before closing the laptop by its lid and lean herself back on the couch, staring at the ceiling.

_Ding Dong_. The front door bell rang out loud alerting Mia. She quickly went to the front door to open it. It was none other than Mrs Brown.

"Oh good afternoon, Mrs Brown," she greeted her, "What brings you here at this time of the day?"

"Ah afternoon, Mia," she greeted her back, "I'm just here to ask you if you can babysit my kids again around an hour later. I have to get out of town and will be back at night. My husband will be back from work as usual so it should be around 4 hours."

"Sure, I can! I'm glad to help."

"Thank you so much, Mia. You've always been such a dear. What would I do without you around."

"No problem, Mrs. Brown. I would love to play with the kids anyway."

"Ah, I almost forgot," Mrs Brown then hand over Mia a big envelope, "Here. I was checking my mailbox earlier, the postman just came in and I saw your name on it, so I might as well just help bringing it to you."

"Ah, I see, thank you, Mrs Brown. Well, I'll see you at your house in an hour then."

"You're welcome, see you later, Mia."

They both bid their farewell and Mia closed the door and immediately opened the envelope once she sat back at the couch. Her eyes widened and she started to grin from ear to ear as she read the content.

"American Council of Nanny Schools. Mia Winters, a graduate of English Nanny & Governess School, has completed the requirements for Certified Professional Governess (CPG)..."

She could not control her joy and immediately strike a success pose while screaming "Yes!" out loud. She did not mention it nor telling Ethan about it at all but silently behind his back, she actually have been taking the nanny course just a few days after he told her about it. She just took it on a whim so that if she ever gave up her dream at some point, she can just switch completely to full time nanny. She was already at the verge of switching but then the reunion with Amelia happened. And now, she had a sudden realization regarding what happened last night which completely kills her mood.

If only she did not meet Amelia that day, then she would not have relive the painful memories long buried within last night. And now, she felt guilty to give up her dream in order to support her man. It left a bitter taste in her mouth as she was crying quite hard last night too and it felt like she betrayed herself for the sake of money rather than what she wanted to do. She was having quite a dilemma but ultimately decided that she wanted to try again for another interview. If she still fail this one, then she will commit to be a full time nanny. After all, that was the most rational thing to do. 

"Sometimes, you have to let go in order to move forward." She said to herself. Having decided that, she began to prepare herself for her babysitting with a new resolved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late update. I was planning to release this before/on Valentine's day but ultimately scrap it and decided to write it back from scratch. The tone does not fit to where I am going with the story. Also I did not put my heart when writing it. 
> 
> I'm so glad I rewrite this.
> 
> I hope you all enjoy the chapter and thanks for reading


	8. The Nanny

\----------------------  
March 2009  
\----------------------

To start, she bombed her last interview. Even though she studied hard as always, her head was not in the game. She could not focus on the interview as her mind already mostly set on being a nanny the moment she received the certificate. Regardless, she tried her best for her one last hurrah. When she stepped out of the building, she was happy rather than sad. All this while, she have been tunnel visioning towards only of becoming a researcher due to her own self made promise to herself leaving her to live in a depressive state for the whole year. Having finally letting go of her dreams, she finally felt light as if a heavy burden finally lifted off her shoulders. She never felt so free and finally able to move on forward. Ethan was right all along, she was definitely felt a lot happier now, more than ever. Seeing Ethan smiled of acknowledgment and praised her when she told him made it all felt worth it.

Secondly, perhaps by luck or because she is simply a local American citizen, the child care agency told her that people actually fight to hire her. Even though being told that first come first serve, some couples actually offer a more expensive pay rate to get her to babysit their children. One of the reasons are that, people trusted their fellow countryman (countrywoman in this case) more than any other immigrants. She never thought all of this would happen since she was just going to be working as a nanny, to take care of children, nothing more nothing less. Why would anyone fight to hire a nanny in the first place? Its unheard of. It was certainly bizarre. Nonetheless, a rich family hired her in the end offering the highest pay rate.

However, there was another dilemma. She was to be a lived in nanny, meaning she would not be seeing Ethan for a while unless she had her day off. Ethan gave her the green light and said he can take care of himself. With some cheesy lines, he managed to convince her to go and she finally left the house full of hope. He definitely have a way of talking to her.

It has been three weeks since she first started. Took quite sometime for her to adjust on her new home. It was a small mansion built on a private land. It was definitely not the biggest out there but it has swimming pool, a tennis court and a garden outside. It was quite a secluded area with no neighbours around and it took 10 minutes drive just to reach the nearby town. There were two maids aside from her who lives together with the family. The gardener however, does not live with them but rather comes in every morning to tend the garden but still he seems like just as part of the family.

All in all, they were all good people. When she arrived she received a warm welcome from all of them. In fact, they even prepared her a special welcome feast. She learned that the owner, was part of the Simmons family whom seems to be quite a big deal apparently. A quick google search she did shows that one of the well known man of the Simmons family is Derek C. Simmons, the National Security Advisor (NSA) himself. No wonder they could own a mansion.

Now onto the kid she was taking care of. Her name is April Simmons and was about 9 years old at the time. She was what you called a princess and not only that, she was also quite the mischievous one too. There was always something with her everyday and the little brat she was, everything had to be the way she wanted it. Else she will throw a big tantrum and caused troubled. Just a few days after Mia started and she already pranked her multiple times. Compared to the kids she babysit back at the apartment, this one is really hard to keep up with.

One more thing to note, April had no mother. Apparently, her mother passed away the day she gave birth to April. However, April have always been closed the maids as if they were her mother. Taking note of that, Mia understood April's loneliness and kept that information in her mind when dealing with her. Though it took awhile but Mia did manage to bond with April in the end. But that does not stop the girl to keep on pranking on her. She will always do as she please. Mia rants a lot to Ethan about it. However, she also told him that apparently, April have never been fond of anyone before so she was happy that April actually really liked her.

Everyday was an adventure to her but its a start of something new. She could not have been happier aside from coming back to her fiancée every now and then.

\----------------------  
May 2009  
\----------------------

The clock arrows indicates its half past one on a peaceful Friday afternoon. However, the sky is getting darker as clouds began to rise and the wind starts blowing continuously. With April napping on her regular afternoon schedule, Mia had a free time to herself for awhile.

"Mia, can you help me take get the laundry inside? Its going to rain soon." said Lily, who was one of the maids.

"Sure, I'm coming."

So they both went out to the laundry drying area and brought the laundries inside. Once done, Mia returned to April only to find that the little girl was no longer there. However, there was a piece of note written with such a poor handwriting of the obviously missing girl.

" _Hey Mia, let's play a game. I am hiding somewhere in the house and you NEED to find me. Don't worry I leave you clues in order to find where I hide. You better hurry and find me before dinner or I will starve! If you don't find me, you be in BIIIG Trouble._

 _Okay first clue, go to the 2nd floor at the pool area. No, not swimming pool. The pool where people use stick to poke the ball thingy that goes into holes. Yea, go there. You will find next clue._ "

Mia shook her head and sighed, "This kid...its called pool table, April." She said to herself before going to the second floor. When she reached the recreation room, she looked at the pool table and saw nothing. Everything looks normal...or so it seems. Mia got down to her knees and looked underneath the pool table only to find a note cellotaped onto it.

"What is it this time?" she sighed before taking the note and read it.

_There are no extra pieces in the universe._   
_Everyone is here because he or she has a place to fill._   
_and every piece must fit itself into the big jigsaw puzzle_

"..."

Mia crawled back out from underneath the pool table and looked at the cabinet of board games. One particular jigsaw puzzle box appear to stand out among the rest. So she took the box out and read the title. Pirates of Caribbean. She then looked at the other crucial information on the puzzle.

"50 pieces. Phew. Its not so bad after all." She said while letting out a sigh of relief. I guessed even the little brat does not want to deal with so many bullshit too. 

As she opened the box, there was another note left inside.

" _Welcome to your first trial! This puzzle are missing some important pieces. You NEED to solve it in order to know what the missing pieces are._

 _Hint: the pieces can be found somewhere inside the house. Are you smart enough to find it?_ "

"Well I gotta say, she's really quite the creative one if she can plan this far. Right, let's get into it."

Halfway of solving the puzzle, Mia already saw and have a hunch of what the missing pieces are. A few moments of later, she concluded her theory was right. There were 4 missing pieces and they made up the image of the 'Treasure Chest'.

"This is going to be a long day..." she said to herself before she placed the puzzle neatly and carefully to not break it after spending quite some time on it. She glance at the clock, 2:15 pm. "I better hurry."

And so Mia went up and down the stairs, in and out of rooms, open and closing drawers, cabinets and closets, obtaining key items such as small keys and napkins while solving clues after clues. Some of them were just easy, some requires a little bit of thinking but none of them were difficult to solve. The other maids just shook their heads and laughed at her for having to deal with April's antics. Mia shrugged and just laughed it off as she too was actually enjoying herself. Its really been awhile she felt like a kid herself. All this while the rain has been pouring down outside. Mia continued to solve the clues one by one until she opens a clue that looks like a map. This one was a no brainer. It just shows the house, the tennis court the swimming pool and the garden with a giant X on it. The only words written on it was "X mark the spot!"

Mia sighed as it was raining heavily to go outside and it seems like the rain is not going to stop anytime soon. She took out her phone from her pocket and looked at the clock, it reads 4:30 pm. Before she put the phone back in the pocket, her phone buzz indicating a new message just arrived. The sender was from the culprit herself. So she immediately opened it.

"Hey Mia, I'm getting tired of waiting. Which clues are you on now? Hurry up and find me already!"

To which Mia replied and they had a conversation as followed.

"Well I just got your map that has a giant X on the garden. But its raining outside :( "

"But you gotta! Its an important piece and its the final one too!"

"How about this, why don't we continue this tomorrow? Tomorrow when we're continuing, I'll just closed my eyes while you go hide again. Okay? I won't cheat I promise!"

"No! It has to be today!"

"Why it must be today?"

"Please! Pretty Please!! Its a secret!"

"No, April. Tell me."

"I'll tell you but please don't tell daddy. Its a secret between us only! Please go and get it >.< "

"Okay but you better explain yourself later, promise?"

"Promise!"

Mia took an umbrella and was about to head to the shed in order to get a shovel. However, Hagar, the gardener who was sitting at the porch called her out in a friendly manner "Hey, miss. Where are you going in this weather?"

"Just going to the garden, April needs me to find something there."

"Really? during this rain right now? Can it wait?"

"Apparently, the 'princess' wants it now and it sounds quite important"

Hagar just shook his head, "You give in to the kids and they really going to step on your head, miss. Kids like this really needs to be disciplined and taught to learn how to respect their elders."

"I understand, I'm planning on gave her some scolding later myself for having made me through this mess. But for now, I feel like it must have been something important that she hides in the garden. Oh by the way, Mr. Hagar, can you lend me that shovel? I got the feeling I'm gonna need it to dig something."

"Sigh, here you go," he passed over the shovel to her "Just be careful to not catch a cold, miss."

"Okay, thank you, Hagar."

The cold wind gave her quite the chill as she made her way to the garden. Bad weather aside, actually it was quite a beautiful garden. Flowers of variety colours grown in spiral like pattern was a sight to behold. She would love to show this garden to Ethan someday too. Heck, perhaps even having their wedding here is not so bad either. Nonetheless, that would be something to think about in the future. For now, she focuses on finding the X spot. It took her sometime to find as the rain disrupt her vision. Good thing it was just a post sign with a big X taped on it. Also the ground below already shown signed of something buried. Without wasting anymore time, she went ahead and dug at the spot ignoring the continuous downpour. 

_Clank_. The sound the shovel made as it comes to contact with something metal. She then immediately grab the metal box and went back inside the house. After cleaning herself up, using a key she found from earlier clues, she opened the box. What she found made her eyes widened and anger started to boil inside her. Aside from the key item, along with it there was another note.

" _Congratulations! Now that you found it, please come to the 3rd floor and head straight to dad's room and said 'Apple' three times._

 _P/s: I want to show you something cool. ITS A SECRET!_ "

So Mia went ahead and do just that however with anger in her tone. After a few moments, there came April coming out of her father's closet looking scared.

"You gave me quite the trouble, young lady. Explain yourself." Mia said with her arms crossed.

"I'm sorry..."

"Do you know what this is?" Mia said as she show her employer's Key Card in her hand.

April shook her head slowly and said softly "I don't know."

"This here is what you called a Key Card. Its important for your father to have it with him at all times. Without this, he cannot access a lot of things at his work meaning he cannot do his work properly."

"I'm so sorry" April said sobbingly as she was about to cry.

"Sit there for awhile. Don't you dare going anywhere until I told you to." She said pointing at the corner. April slowly dragged her legs and sit at the corner as told while Mia took out her cellphone and called her employer while her eyes were fixed on the girl, ensuring she was not going anywhere.

"Hello, Mr. Simmons?"

"What is it, Mia? I'm quite busy right now."

"Umm its about your Key Card...," Mia paused for awhile to listen to his reaction. Certainly enough, a loud 'WHAT!?' can be heard through the phone. So she continued, "It was April. She took your Key Card for one of her pranks. Yes, yes, I'm so sorry Mr Simmons. You must have been nervous missing an important item. Its fine now, the Key Card is with me right now. You can rest assured."

"Oh thank god, Mia. Please hold onto it, until I got back home tomorrow. Thank you for taking care of April for me. I'll make sure to have a talk with her tomorrow."

"You're welcome, Mr. Simmons. Just doing my job."

"Okay, I gotta go now. I have business to attend to. Good bye."

"Goodbye, Mr. Simmons."

She put down her phone and placed it in her pocket before turning her full attention to April. This whole time during the phone call, April was sitting at the corner hugging her legs while sobbing silently. Looking at her pitiful state, Mia could not stay mad at her. After all, Mia herself was such a naughty child back then too and April never intent to do anything harmful. So she approached her slowly and go down to her level with one knee.

"April, what you did was not okay," Ensuring that April pay attention to her, she continued "What you did made your dad get into trouble. Not just your dad, but me, Miss Lily and Miss Susan too."

"I'm sorry..."

"Promise me you won't take other people things without permission again, okay?"

"Okay..."

"Now then, I'm going to forgive you BUT I'm still going to punish you for your mischief. Fair?"

She nodded silently.

"Okay then, so what was the cool thing you wanted to show me?" she said with a smile.

Seeing Mia's smile, April rubbed her eyes and said, "Its only between us, okay? Don't tell daddy or Lily or Susan. Promise?"

"Promise! BUT"

"Umm...but what?"

"Its dinner time! Let's go eat first okay? Your dad will only come home tomorrow so we have plenty of time to show this secret."

"Oh, umm, okay. Lets go eat dinner then!"

"Alright, well your first punishment is to help Miss Susan set the dinner table and later help her clean the kitchen."

"Awww... okay..."

"Don't worry I'll help so we can clean faster. Then you can tell me the secret, okay?"

"Oh, okay then. Lets go!"

And so, the two went down to the kitchen and helped the maids with the dinner. They laughed and had a good time while Mia told her adventures solving the clues. April also apologize to everyone for taking the important thing without permission. Needless to say, everything went well and after dinner, they help the maids cleanup. The maids at night, usually already spend their time doing their hobbies in their room or watching the TV at the living room when Mr. Simmons was not around. April told Mia that the secret is somewhere in the basement so the two planned to go to there right after they clean the kitchen and the maids already went and do their things. It was Friday night too in which Mia was more lenient on letting April stayed up a bit late.

"Alright, everything is all clean now. Let's go, Mia!" she said excitedly.

"Okay, okay!" she replied with a smile walking right behind her.

The two sneaked up and went down to the basement as quietly as possible. This was actually the first time Mia went down to the basement. It was quite large. There were many racks and cabinets full of power tools, paints, fishing rods...In fact there was a lot of fishing related things in here from the rods, to baits, to nets, to actual boats? Apparently, the basement is connected to the underground garage separated by a door next to it as beyond the door was where she saw the boat as well as several cars Mr. Simmons owned.

"Did you bring the key card?" April asked.

"Uhh, yes. Its with me."

She then glance at the basement entrance ensuring nobody was there before she walked towards one of a perforated metal display rack. She turned around to Mia and said,

"Watch this!"

She then turned the left most hammer hanged on the rack 360 degrees and as soon as she does, one of the rack across the room began to move to the side revealing a metal door. There was a console next to it in which there is a slot which obviously for the user to swipe the key card and a numpad.

"What on earth...a secret room?" Mia thought to herself as she marveled at how filthy rich her employer was. As if the mansion, the boat and multiple luxury cars were not enough, now the mansion itself has a custom secret room.

"I'm so excited! This is the first time I'm going to see what's inside this room!" said April while smiling from ear to ear.

"April, how did you find this?" Mia asked curiously.

"One night, I woke up in the middle of the night and sneaked out of my room. I saw dad came home late. So I sneaked onto the garage when he parked his car. I wanted to see what he was doing so I follow him but when he gets into this room I saw him turning that hammer and it reveals this door. Also, after that I sneaked out every night and have saw him enter it multiple times that I already know the password to enter it too."

"A-Anyhow, April, this is not a good idea. If its a secret door only your dad can access its probably something important that we should not be allowed to see." Mia told April. At the back of her head, she remembered Mr. Simmons is someone important to the government. There must have been some important government secret lies behind that door that she have no business going into. However, curious she was, it was definitely a bad idea and would led to breach of trust which means she could get fired.

"Oh c'mon, Mia! There must be something cool inside this room! Like maybe dad's super secret office! Besides, you promised!" the little girl tried to persuade.

"Its precisely your dad's secret office that we are NOT allowed to go in, April." Mia raised her tone. "Come now, lets go upstairs and do something else."

"If you don't open that door, I'll tell dad on you!"

"...!" Mia stopped on her tracks. April is a princess to her father that her father will always believed anything she said and will take her side anytime. Its even worse now that she was the one holding the key card and suddenly she "knew" about her employer's secret room. If Mr. Simmons knew about this, she would definitely be fired on the spot and probably blacklisted and will forever unable to continue her job as a nanny. She cannot afford to lose this job after finally able to move on. Knowing April, she does not really have a choice but to obey.

"O-o-okay, but on one condition!" Mia said with a stern tone. "We only go in for a moment and then we get out. And most importantly, Don't. Touch. Anything. Okay?"

"Okay!"

"Promise?"

"Promise!"

Letting out a big sigh, she whispered to herself "I'm sorry, Mr. Simmons..." before she swiped the key card on the slot. Once swiped, the console lighted up and the screen displayed "Please enter password."

April then key in the password on the console while Mia's eyes were focused on keys that she pressed. Her finger already typed in the same keys on her phone as April keyed in. Thank goodness the phone of that era have tactile keys so she can typed without looking. It was important for Mia to know and memorize the password should something go wrong and if they needed it in order to get back out.

The screen then displayed "ACCESS GRANTED" message before the light above the door turned green. The door then slide opened automatically revealing a lift. April excitedly jumped in while Mia reluctantly do so. There was only two floor. B1 which Mia assumed is the current level and the other one which labeled as U. Since there was no other option she pressed the U button. The lift door then closed and the lift began to move downward. Mia had a very bad feeling about this. She regret every single bit of this and wished that she listened to Hagar advice earlier. If she would have just stand her ground and not going too soft on April, none of this would have happened. Regardless, it was already too late. Right now, she just wished that when the door opened it was just a floor of private office, toilet, living room, etc. Just normal boring things, nothing more nothing less.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One word: Simmons
> 
> this is not going to end well for our nanny


End file.
